


Of Lust and Wrenches

by Embersunblaze11



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: F/M, Lust and Winry Bonding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-06
Updated: 2017-09-15
Packaged: 2018-12-24 12:52:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 43,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12013134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Embersunblaze11/pseuds/Embersunblaze11
Summary: When Father decides to bring Lust back to life, he sends Gluttony to search for a suitable host for her spirit. He comes upon a certain automail mechanic. Hell breaks lose when the Elric brothers and Mustang's crew must work together to find a way to break Winry from Lust's tight hold...Win/Ed





	1. Chapter 1

Of Lust and Wrenches

Ember Sunblaze: Okay time for my first Fullmetal Alchemist fic! Yay! Hopefully ya'll will like it. Just to make it clear, the setting of the story is around episode 19, the day after the Lust dies at Laboratory #3. 

Summary: When Father decides to bring Lust back to life, he sends Gluttony's to search for a suitable host her spirit. He comes upon a certain automail mechanic. Hell breaks lose when the Elric brothers and Mustang's crew must work together to find a way to break Winry from Lust's tight hold...

Chapter 1: The New Body

 

“Please Father! Please! My Lust! My beautiful Lust!”

Father rolled his eyes at the pathetic display in front of him. Gluttony lay sprawled across the floor in front of him, clutching his stomach as if in pain. Fat tears rolled down his face, as he wailed out his sorrow. It was....in no better terms...pathetic.

Father tapped his fingers on his armrest in thought, trying to drown out Gluttony's annoying sobbing. Last night's events had definitely been a set back, no thanks to Lust. Not only had Lust almost killed one of his sacrifices and failed to kill the Lieutenant Hawkeye but, to top it all off, she winded up having her entire life blasted away by the Flame Alchemist. Father narrowed his eyes in anger at the thought of his deceased Homunculus. Yes, after all her mistakes she deserved to die.

Gluttony's sobbing worsen as if he could hear Father's thoughts. Father sighed wearily. This wouldn't do at all. Lust may of not been the best fighter, but she did manage to keep Gluttony under control. She alone was always able to make sure Gluttony didn't eat every person they encountered. Plus it would do them good to have all the homunculus present for the Promise Day. A family united was a strong one. 

Making up his mind, Father looked down at the sobbing wreck who had now crawled his way to Father's feet, tugging on his robes and whimpering. Father frowned. He expected his homunculus to act better than this. He, himself, had made them to be above humans and yet here was Gluttony showing very real emotions of sadness. It sickened him.

“Tell me Gluttony, what purpose does all this crying accomplish?: Gluttony looked up at Father with confused eyes, sniffling as snot trailing down his nose. “Do you think it will bring her back? Do you really think your sorrow will really make a difference?” Gluttony continued to stare, blinking dumbly at Father. “Do you think, by succumbing to human emotions, Lust will miraculously be returned to you?”

At the sound of Lust's name, Gluttony's eyes filled up once more with tears and he started to tug frantic at Father's robes. “Please Father! Use the stone! Bring my Lust back to me!” 

Gluttony whimpered and flinched as Father raise his hand up, as if to strike him down. The fat homunculus blinked in surprise as Father hand rested upon his head and stroked it as if comforting an small pet.

“My child what am I going to do with you?” When Gluttony just stared up at him in confusion, Father continued. “I shall bring Lust back to you.”

Gluttony's confusion vanished to be replaced with uncontrolled joy. “Lust?! My beautiful Lust?! She'll be with Gluttony again!” Gluttony wrapped his arms around himself, hugging his large body with glee.

“However...”

Gluttony's joy vanished. He sucked on his finger worriedly.

“However, she will not be the same Lust you will remember.” Father looked down at Gluttony with cold eyes. “I can not use a full philosopher's stone to make new body for Lust. To make a new stone would need a lot of blood shed and I can not risk exposing our plan by causing more killings than we need to. I can bring her soul back but only if I can find a suitable host body for her.” Father tapped his fingers together thoughtfully. “Do you think you could find a body that could withstand the stone's power?”

Gluttony's slow mind seemed to be working overtime. Sucking on his finger, thoughts seemed to be swirling around his head. A body for Lust? A whole new Lust? What about his Lust? I'm hungry...

“ I assure you, that Lust will be returned. This new body is nothing but a transport device. Nothing will change. She will still be your Lust.” 

Gluttony popped his finger out and for the first time since he heard about the death of Lust, he let a toothy smile spread across his face. 

“Gluttony will find a body!”

Father smiled coldly. “Good boy. Now just don't eat too many in the process.”

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“I'm really sorry Winry!”

“Come on Al! Its really no big deal!” Winry stated, waving a dismissive hand at the saddened suit of armor.

She had just finished getting dressed and about to explore Central to try to find a shop where she could get scrap metal to fix Alphonse's banged up armor. So far she needed to make a new socket for his arm joint (since the damn thing just wont stay on!) and try find a piece of metal she could wield into a jaw like shape for his broken jaw piece. 

Winry at the moment stood on top of Alphonse's leg so that she could reach up to his face. In her hand were measuring tapes, in which she was using to measure out Alphonse's jaw structure.

“But Winry, your going through so much trouble.” Alphonse continued complain. Winry smiled at the still young boy.

“Al it's fine!” Winry hopped down on to the floor, quickly writing down the measurements on a piece of notebook paper. “Besides I'm doing this not just for you, but for me also.” She gave a lopsided smirk. “ When Ed sees you like that he's going to have my head too you know. So it's best that I fix you up, before he even gets here!”

Alphonse chuckled, imagining how angry his brother would be. “Heheh I guess your right. But I can't help but feel guilty. I mean your always complaining to Ed every time he shows up with broken automail. I would hate to think I'm a bother to you too.” 

Winry stopped writing her measurements and walked to Al. Standing on her tip toes, Winry gently put her hands on both sides of Al's helmet and give him a small hug. “ Oh Al...” Winry felt her voice tighten up as tears filled her eyes. “No matter what I say, I want you and your brother to always remember that I will always be there to help you out. Don't ever think otherwise.” 

If Alphonse had a heart he knew it would be breaking right now. Her words seemed to remind him just how many people truly cared about him and wanted to help him. Despite him lacking a body, there were people out there who still treated him like a person. Even though he couldn't feel her hug, just the fact she was attempting to feel close to him, made him want to roll into a ball and cry with joy. But instead he felt it proper just to put his arms around her and hug her back.

Winry pulled away and quickly wiped her eyes, a smile brightening her face. “Besides I would rather fix you than your brother any day! At least you show gratitude!”

“Oh Winry. He may not show it, but he really does appreciate everything you do for us!”

Winry shrugged her shoulders, smile faltering for a minute. “Well it would help if showed it every once in a while.” Winry muttered, Alphonse barely catching it. Before he could say something to defend his brother, Winry quickly grabbed her coat and ran out the door, pausing only for a second to bid Al a farewell.

“Bye Al. I see you in a little bit! Stay out of trouble!”

Alphonse waved a goodbye, even though Winry was already out the door. He lowered his hand and stared out the window at the young blonde walking confidently into the crowd. The smile that had lid her face earlier was replaced by a contemplating frown as if she had something.....or someone on her mind.

Al sighed. 

“Oh brother, when will you notice how much she cares about you?”

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

“So many people....So much food...so hungry!!!!”

Gluttony groaned as his stomach gave another rumble. From the alleyway from which he sat, Gluttony's eyes scoured all the pedestrians walking among the streets. Today was Saturday and the only day in Central when farmers from the neighboring farming villages brought in their crops for selling. Thus the normally solemn streets were now bustling with families buying fresh produce. A festival aura filled the air as people shopped. So many people....so many people to chop on.....

“Oww!!!” Tears filled Gluttony's eyes has his stomach gave a short pain. Oh why did being hungry have to hurt so much?! The worse part was, he was always hungry!

“Lust never let Gluttony go hungry. Lust always had food for Gluttony. Gluttony miss Lust.” Gluttony muttered to him. Thinking about Lust and Father's promise to bring her back, Gluttony ignored his stomach and pulled his hood from his brown cloak over his head. 

“Gluttony eat later. Need to find body for Lust.” Gluttony walked out into the sunlight. determined eyes scanning the crowd. After a minute of looking at the crowd, Gluttony popped a finger into his mouth, sucking on it thoughtfully.

“So many people...who can I choose?”

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Now let's see....Harvard's Parts seems to have pretty good reviews.” Winry glanced at the map of the city she had gotten from the hotel. “ But that's all the way on the other side of town.” 

She looked through her list of junk yards and automail shops. She had previously just went to one automail shop she had seen when she had first arrived in the city. But after arriving there, she had quickly discovered how low rate the shop was when the douchey shop owner tried to sell her third rate metal that was obviously over priced. 

A wrench to the head and a threat of calling the authorities on them for selling bad automail to their patients quickly set the owner straight and had him begging for her forgiveness. Winry had demanded for a full list of all the good quality automail shops in Central.

So now Winry was looking through the list, chewing slightly on her pen cap. She had already crossed out ones that were way out of her way and ones that were located in areas that seemed rather dodgy. That left only a few on the list that were in walking distance. 

Winry's eye's brightened when she located one that was near the Mae's Hughes apartment. “Oh I could visit Gracia and Elicia when I'm done! I bet they would love some company.” Winry smiled sadly. She couldn't imagine what they were going through. Well she actually could, she herself had lost her father years ago. But losing the man you loved...Winry closed her eyes tightly as an image of Edward flitted through her mind. No that wasn't the same. It's not like Edward felt the same way about me.

Sighing, Winry let her gaze travel away from her map and to the crowd of people shopping around the market place. With all the fruit and vegetable stands it almost reminded her of Resembool. 

“ You know I could probably get a little grocery shopping down while I'm here. ” She fiddled with her pen, a small smirk lurking on her face. “I might even pick up some more apples. I could always make another apple pie. Maybe I could have one ready for when Edward returns.” The smirk quickly disappeared. “Or not! it's not like he'll appreciate it anyway. He'll probably just wolf it down like a giant pig! Grrr why do I even bother!?” 

Giving a big huff! Winry folded up her map and started making her way through the fruit stands. Despite her earlier frustration, Winry found herself stopping at a stand that held a beautiful assortment of green and red apples. The seller smiled down at Winry. 

“Why hello there beautiful young lady! Please pick whatever apples catch your eyes! Each one is completely fresh, just got off the tree this morning!” Winry smiled politely at him.

“Thank you very much sir! They look delicious.” Winry began to pick out the apples that looked plump and juicy until her basket was completely full.

Suddenly a commotion could be heard from a stand a couple of yards away from them. A seller, who was selling a fresh fish, was waving a broom at cloaked figure huddled at the foot of the stand. A crowd was quickly gathering around making it hard for Winry to see what was going on. She quickly paid the seller and made her way toward the scene.

“GET OUT OF HERE YOU FREAK!!!” The seller yelled, hitting the kneeling man with his broom.

The cloaked figured gave an almost feral growl, clutching one of the seller's fish in his grubby hands. In front of everyone, the man took a bite of the fish's head, chomping it down like a starving beast. The crowd gasped and one woman screamed in fright.

“HE'S A MONSTER!”

“How uncivilized!”

“He ate that raw!”

“Look at that nose!”

“WHAT A FREAK!”

“Your going pay for that!” The fish seller threatened moving closer to the hunched figure, broom raised for striking.

The man, who had been busy licking his hands for scraps of lingering meat, eyed the man dangerously. Unbeknownst to the fish seller, the cloaked figure was smiling evilly under his hood, waiting for his next meal to make it's move......

“Leave him alone!” 

Both cloaked figure and fish seller were shocked to see a young girl jump between them. Determined blue eyes stared angrily at the fish seller who still had his broom raised in a striking position. He quickly put it down.

“How dare you make fun of a man who is obviously starving?!” Winry demanding, poking a finger into the seller's chest.

“But miss! He...”

“And how dare you call him a freak for eating a fish raw! I know a guy who one time ate his own boot! Does that make him a freak?!”

“Well I don't know...”

“And other thing! He shouldn't be made fun of because of his nose. That's a physically trait that he can't help! Like this one guy I know that's so short he could be mistaken for a midget but doesn't mean people should point that out!”

The apple seller who was listening to the conversation, leaned to the guy selling pears next to door to him. “I would hate to be that guy she knows... eating a boot and being a midget....poor guy.”

“Look lady! The point is, this man didn't pay for the fish and needs to be punished for that!” The fish seller exclaimed.

Winry glared at the man and then stuck her hand into her purse, pulling out several coins. “There. That should be enough.”

The fish seller took that cash and quickly grabbed his fish cart and started pushing it away, all the while muttering words that sounded along the lines of “crazy blonde.”

With that being done, Winry turned her attention to the still gathered crowd. “Well the shows over. Beat it.” When the crowd still gawked at her, Winry pulled out her many assortment of torture like tools, an evil glint in her eyes. “I SAID BEAT IT!!!'

Fearing for their lives, the crowd quickly dispersed. Putting her tools away, Winry gave an embarrassed smile down at the cloaked figure.

“Heheh sorry about that.” She kneeled down next to him, looking at him with kind eyes. “I'm Winry. What's your name?”

The man continued to stare at her from under his hood, beady eyes blinking confusedly. Winry looked at him worriedly. “Hey are you okay?”

The man's face twisted in pain and his hand clutched his stomach from under his cloak. “Hungry...” He muttered.

Winry's eye's widened and she gasped. “Oh my gosh. You must be starving. Poor thing...uh...Here!” Winry grabbed her basket of apples and held it out to him. 

The man look at the basket. Not sure what to do. 

Winry gave a bright smile. “Its' fine! You can have them! I don't mind at all.” When the man still did nothing, Winry reached over and grabbed the man's rather large hands. Pulling them up in front of him, she gently deposited the basket of apples into his hands. She clasped her hands with his.

“There you go! Its not much, but I'm afraid it's all I have.” Winry sat back and watched as the man sniffed the apples and slowly took a bite out of one. A smile lit his face and he quickly grabbed another, chomping on it like his life depended on it.

Winry's blue eyes softened as she watched him eat. “ You know, your're probably wondering why I would help someone like you. You see I work with automail, so I work with lots of people who have lost arms and legs and other limbs....people who society would usually label freaks. But they're not freaks. They're just normal people like you and me who have faced rough times. Just because their broken on the outside doesn't mean they're not perfect on the inside.” 

The man ceased his eating as Winry stood up. Smiling warmly down at him, Winry bid him a farewell. “Well I need to be off. Sorry for not having more food.” She gave a friendly wave good-bye. “ I really hope things turn out better for you.”

As Winry's retreating figure disappeared into the hustle and bustle of the market place, Gluttony's beady eye's turned to the basket of apples in his hand and then back to where Winry had gone.

“She gave Gluttony food.” 

Gluttony remembered the feel of the Winry holding his hands out. The warm feeling of being touched by a another person. A feeling that only Lust had given him.....

“My Lust....need new body....”

“I'm Winry! What's your name?” Winry asked, smiling warmly down at him.

A sinister smile spread across Gluttony's face and he clutched the basket of apples even closer to him.

“Winry....”  
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Oh boy...Looks like Gluttony has found a new body for Lust....I wonder how Edward is going to feel about this...Muhwahahah!! XD

Sorry I had to end the chapter at this point, but I really wanted to get this story up and running. Comments and Reviews would be very helpful since this is my very first Fullmetal Alchemist story. I really want to make sure the characters are all written well. 

I'll try to update as much as possible.

As always...Please Review!!!!!


	2. A Body Swiping We Will Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Gluttony's found a new body for Lust, what will happen to Winry?

“Envy! Envy!” Envy opened one annoyed eye.

Standing in front of him, jumping up and down like a little kid was Gluttony. As soon as he saw Envy awaken, he grabbed the young homunculus and shook him a like a rag doll.

“Come On! Come On! Me need you now!” Gluttony said, the shaking of Envy increasing.

“What...the...hell... IS WRONG WITH YOU!?” Envy yelled out angrily. Gluttony stopped shaking him, and stared at Envy blankly.

“I need your help.” he replied, as if it was obvious. Envy slapped his huge hands away.

“I got that much you slobber breath! Help with what?”

Gluttony's blank stare turned to a huge grin. “Gluttony has found a new body for Lust!” He clapped his hands giddily.

Envy crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes. “A new body for Lust? What gives?! I thought the whore was dead?”

Gluttony shook his head. “No! No! Father has promised to bring her back! Gluttony just need to find a new body!” At this point, the homunculus was close to tears with happiness. “And I found one!”

Envy looked unimpressed. “You do know not just any person can be fused with the stone. Most likely the gal you pick will die from the exposure.” Envy took on a look of fake pity. “Too bad.”

Gluttony's face faltered at these words. Envy smirked. Serves the freak right for disturbing my nap. However Gluttony turned to Envy with a determined expression, anger flashing in his beady eyes.

“Winry will not die.”

Envy blinked in surprise. What's this pig's deal? He can barely remember what he last ate but yet remembers the name of some brat? Gluttony must be getting desperate. Envy snorted impatiently. “Okay fine. You found a body. What do you need my help for?”

Gluttony blinked and started sucking his finger, a habit he now started to do when he was sad or had lot to think about. “Well I need someone to help me capture her and your the best with disguises.” Gluttony trailed off.

“Why the hell should I help you?”

“Don't you want Lust back?”

“Why would I give a damn about Lust? It's her own damn fault for playing with fire!” Envy began to walk away but was stopped by Gluttony, who had blocked his way. A malicious glint had entered his eyes and a shadow had crossed over his face. Envy took a step back.

“Get out of my way!” Envy ordered, a slight hint of anxiety edging his voice.

Gluttony didn't butch. He glared at Envy. “You...will...HELP ME!!!”

“AHHHH!” Envy screamed as darkness engulfed him. Gluttony had stretched his mouth open and devoured Envy whole. Smirking, Gluttony sat down on the ground, listening to Envy's complaints.

“Let me out you fucking bastard!!!! I swear as soon as you open your mouth I'll gut your eyes and pull out your entrails! I'll cut your tongue out and make you rue the day you were born! You slimy, two ton pig. Shit-eating, pig snout, Cannibal!!! YOU...”

“Envy better play nice or Gluttony might swallow.”

Envy's rants ended abruptly. Envy's blood turned cold as the fear of being swallowed took hold. Because everyone knew, that once some thing entered Gluttony's stomach, it was never heard from again.

Envy swallowed his anger and choked out. “Okay I'll help you.”

“Gluttony can not hear you.”

Bastard. “I said I'll help you!”

Within seconds Envy saw the light as Gluttony spit him out. On his hands and knees, Envy coughed as fresh air entered his lungs, instead of rancid breath.

Gluttony smiled innocently. “Ready to go?”

Envy glared at him with pure hatred. “Just so yo know, I'm only doing this so I can see the look on your face when the stone finishes off your precious host.” He sneered evilly. “ You'll see Lust die not once, but twice.”

Gluttony walked away, ignoring Envy's comment. The host won't die. He could feel it. The hand's that had fed him were strong. Stronger than he even understood.

Sniffing disdainfully, Envy followed.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

“Thank you for the tea, Mrs. Hughes.” Winry smiled graciously as Gracia poured tea into her cup.

“It's no problem! I should be thanking you. It's not often we get visitors.” Gracia set the tea pot down on the table. She walked over and sat on the couch across from Winry. “So tell me.” She asked, setting her hands on her lap. “What have you and the Elric brothers been up to since our last visit?”

“I'm afraid not much.” Winry said, setting her cup down. “Edward had to leave unexpectedly and so it's just been me and Al.” Winry stared at her cup. There was no point in telling her about Al's fight in Laboratory #3 or the search for Maes' killer. She already has enough stuff to worry about, besides our dangerous antics.

Gracia watched Winry thoughtfully. “Oh so Edwards away again? What for this time?”

Winry snapped out of her thoughts and waved her hands dismissively. “Oh who knows! You know how busy Edward always is! Hehehe.”

Gracia smiled. “Yes I can see that..”

Suddenly the sound of a door opening, made them look toward Elicia's room. Elicia had her head poking out the door, one hand rubbing sleepy eyes.

“Oh sweetie did you have a good nap?” Gracia asked, smiling at her daughter.

“I guess...” Elicia's sleepy eyes popped open when she noticed Winry sitting on the coach. Winry smiled and waved hello.

“Hey Elicia!”

“WINRY!” Elicia ran and jumped into Winry's lap, hugging her around the middle. “You came to visit! Did you miss me?!”

Winry held the little girl up. “What are you talking about? Of course I missed you!” Elicia laughed as Winry tickled her under her armpits.

“HAHAHA STOP IT! STOP IT! THAT TICKLES! HEY!” Elicia came close to Winry's ear, covering it with one hand so her mom couldn't hear. Gracia smiled in amusement. “Winry do you want to color with me?” Elicia whispered. Winry laughed.

“Sure! Why not?”

Elicia jumped up. “OKAY! WAIT THERE!” In three seconds, Elicia had ran to her room and back. In her hands, she carried a small wooden box, with crayon scribbles all over it and a coloring book. Elicia set the book down and flip through the pages. Most of the pages consisted of various animals. Elicia finally stopped at a page that had a cat on the left page and a dog on the right. Elicia gave Winry an orange crayon. 

“Okay you color the cat that color! And I'll color the dog!” Elicia ordered. Gracia frowned.

“Now Elicia. Wouldn't it be nicer if Winry got to pick out a color.” Elicia made a pouty face.

“But I wanted an orange cat..”

“It's fine! That's just the color I wanted! Thank you Elicia!” Winry smiled as Elicia started coloring the dog with a black crayon.

Gracia gave an apologetic look to Winry. “I'm sorry Winry. She can be quite demanding of people at times.” She gave a slight laugh. “She must of got that trait from her father. I know how his coworkers used to complain.”

Winry smiled sadly. “I bet they all miss him very much.”

“I know they do.” Gracia took a sip of her tea and glanced at the two girls coloring. “Speaking of which...I bet you miss Edward too.”

SCRRREEEEEEEECCHHH!!!!!

Winry's orange cranyon screeched across the coloring book, completing ruining her picture and knocking over her cup of tea. Winry jumped up off the couch, completely flustered. 

“I'M SO SORRY! HERE LET ME GET THAT!!!” Winry ran into the kitchen to receive a dish towel.

“Winry it's fine! I'll get it!” Gracia said, trying to calm the flustered girl. Winry shook her head.

“No! No! It's my fault!” Elicia glared at Winry's picture.

“Winry you colored it wrong! Your suppose to color inside the lines!” Winry blushed and giggled.

“Oh my bad Elicia. That's just me being my clumsy self! Hehehe!” Winry began to rub the table franticly. “Miss Edward?! Why in the world would I miss him? He's like a brother to me for goodness sake! No! No! I know he's fine! I'm used to him leaving me without a word of where he's going or if he's in mortal danger or not!” 

Gracia and Elicia blinked at her. Winry continued. “Besides it's not like he cares about me. You know he can go for months without giving me a single phone call? No 'Hey Winry, I just wanted to let you know I'm alive and peachy!' No he shows up with half banged up arm and not a word of what happened. I mean would it hurt for him to trust me just a little? But nooo, he has to keep everything to himself. Well you know what I don't care! I don't care what happens to that big jerk. So no I don't miss him!” Winry banged the dirty dish towel on the table, breathing heavily.

Gracia and Elicia stared at Winry. Winry blinked at sat down on the couch, cheeks blushing. “I'm sorry about that. You must think I'm a fool.”

Gracia didn't say anything, but went over and sat next to Winry putting an arm around her shoulders. “You're no fool, Winry. You're just a girl in love.”

Winry opened her mouth to argue but stayed silent at the warm smile Gracia was giving her. Instead, Winry sighed and leaned her head on top of Gracia's shoulder. Gracia gave Winry's shoulders a slight squeeze.

“Winry I know where these feelings are coming from. I've felt them with Mae's plenty of times. It's hard to be a military wife. Lots of information is kept from you, even I don't know the full circumstances of Maes' death. And it's hard....” Gracia took a deep breath. “But he kept things from me to keep me and Elicia safe. And I believe that's what Edward's doing for you. Keeping you safe. He cares about you. More than you realize.”

Gracia watched as Winry wiped her eyes with her knuckles. “I just wish he would show it more.”

Gracia laughed, “Oh Winry, boys at this age don't know how to express their feelings! It's almost impossible for them! They only know how to fight and eat.”

Winry gave a sad smile. “I guess you're right.” Winry looked down at her hands. “I'm sorry I'm bothering you with my boy problems. Its just...” Winry felt a knot in her throat. “My mother died when I was small, so I never really had someone to help me figure this out. I have my grandma but...it's just not the same.”

Winry gasped as she felt Gracia pulled her into a tight hug. “If you ever need any advice, don't hesitate to visit! Your part of the Hughe's family now.” Gracia pulled back, giving Winry a warm smile. “Besides I could use the practice for when Elicia starts liking boys!”

“Ewww! Mom, boys are stupid!” Elicia said, sticking out her tongue playfully.

Winry laughed. “You're right about that!”

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

“Come on! Hurry it up will ya? I do have other things to do you know?!” Envy complained as he stood over a hunched Gluttony. Gluttony was on all fours on the sidewalk, sniffing for Winry's scent. 

Night had fallen and the bustling streets were now deserted, with only a few stragglers hurrying home to their families. The fruit and vegetable stands had long ago been carted off back to the farms. The two homunculus had been walking around Central all day, trying retrack Winry's scent. It had finally led them to an nice looking apartment complex.

Gluttony sat up and pointed to the building. “She's in there!” Envy looked at the building, growling frustration. “In there! Do you know what there is? There is an apartment complex! It'll take us all night to search there!!” 

Gluttony stared blankly at Envy. Envy smacked his hand on his forehead. “Fine! I'll go in!” Grumbling , Envy transformed into a sleek black cat. His cat like eyes glared up at Gluttony. “Do you have something I can catch her scent with?”

“Uhhhh..” Thinking for a moment, Gluttony tugged in his cloak and pulled out Winry's basket that had held the apples. 

Envy stared at it. “You're kidding right?” Envy smiled and waved his paws around in a comical manner. “Don't tell me this is one of those girls who go around skipping with a basket full of flowers! Are you going to become her new little black sheep and follow her to school! Hehehe!!!” Envy rolled onto his back, laughing hysterically at the thought. 

Gluttony growled and banged the basket on top of Envy's head. “JUST SMELL IT! ME WANT LUST!” 

Envy pushed up the basket that lay on top of his head, glaring. “Fine I'll smell the damn thing. Can't let me have any fun.” Lifting up the basket, Envy took a good, long whiff of it. “Hmmm not bad. Smells sort of good for a human.” 

Jumping up onto a open window on the first floor, Envy turned back to Gluttony. “Stay here! Don't you dare go wandering off and eating people and blowing our cover!”

Gluttony clasped his hands innocently. “Of course! Gluttony stay right here.”

Envy turned away disbelievingly. “Yeah, Yeah, I've heard that before. Better make this quick.”

“Sniff...sniff....sniff....Awww there we go!” Envy jumped up the last flight of stairs to the third floor. “Okay I know your here somewhere.” Envy's cat eyes' darted around the hall, looking for any intruders. He was just about to make his way down a corridor when....

“Thank you for everything Mrs. Hughes!”

Envy's eye's popped open and he quickly flattened himself against the wall. Taking deep breaths, Envy peered around the corner and saw a blonde girl talking in the hallway with Gracia Hughes, the wife of the Maes Hughes. 

What was worst, the scent that Gluttony had given Envy was coming from that blonde girl! THAT GIRL who was chatting with GRACIA HUGHES the wife of MAES HUGHES the guy he JUST KILLED!!!!

As Envy was thinking this through, he overheard their conversation.

“Oh Winry, be a dear and tell Alphonse he is always welcome to come over! He must getting lonely with Edward away. He's such a shy boy, I think he would be too nervous to come visit by himself and we really would love to make sure he's doing okay.” 

“Of course! I'm sure he'll be happy to come over! Especially after I show him this cute kerchief you made him.” Winry said, holding up a cute kerchief with a smiling cat printed on it. Since Winry had failed to find a piece of metal that she could bend to form a new jaw piece, Gracia had quickly decided to sew a cloth covering for it. It wasn't perfect, but it was something that could cover the gaping hole where his mouth should be. “He loves kittens so much!”

SHIT! Envy turned away from the scene, heart racing. “Edward? Alphonse? OUR SACRIFICES?! This girl actually knew THE ELRIC BROTHERS?!!! Not only that! But she was also rubbing elbows with the family of his murder victims!!! DAMN IT GLUTTONY!!! Out of all the girls in Central you had to pick on that's friend's with all our ENEMIES!!! 

Envy waved his paws around angrily, cursing his luck. SHIT! SHIT! AND DOUBLE SHIT! OF ALL THE ROTTEN LUCK! FUCK IT ALL I'M BLOWING THIS JOINT...”

“Awww how cute!” 

Envy's eye's popped open and he looked up in horror as Winry stood over him, eye's shining as she stared at him in his cute cat form. Okay, don't panic! Don't panic! Just act cool....

Envy looked up at her with an indifferent expression. He slowly picked up a paw, licked it, and gave a curt “Meow.”

“OMG SOOOO CUUUUUTE!!!!” Envy cried as Winry grabbed him and began hugging him to death, spinning around in circles as she cooed over the cuteness of him. “I'm going to bring you home and show you to Al! He'll be so happy!”

Envy gritted his teeth angrily as Winry cradled him like baby, walking down the flight of stairs and stepping outside the building. “Well I guess it's too late to abandon the mission now.” Envy thought irritatedly. His eye's scanned the streets looking for Gluttony. 

Where the hell is he? Envy thought, as Winry began walking down the sidewalk. I told him to stay put! Where could he have....

CRASH!!!

“What was that?” Winry asked, looking around the deserted street. Envy flicked his ears and pointed a paw to the alley across the street from them. Winry looked down at him, worry lacing her eyes. “You think someone's in trouble?”

The cat gave a low meow and struggled against Winry's grasp. “Wait! Stop!” Winry called out as the cat jumped free and ran towards the alley. Winry squared her shoulders and ran after it. Peering into the alley, Winry gasped at the scene in front of her.

There in the middle of the alley lay a bloody body of a man. The pieces of the man laid sprawled across the alley, blood splattering the walls. But what had Winry frozen in shock was the hunched figure standing over the man, pieces of flesh hanging from his mouth. The figure looked up at her, smiling a toothy grin. 

“No.” Winry gasped, for she recognized the figure as the man she had helped this morning. “This....can't...be...”

“Really couldn't help yourself, could ya?”

Winry turned behind her and saw the cat blocking her exit. “But...how?”

The cat quirked an eyebrow at her, smirking. “Oh yeah, here let me explain.” With that the cat disappeared to be replace by a teenage boy with long green hair. He stood over her smirking evilly. “Not so cute anymore huh?”

Winry put her hands over her mouth, backing away from him. She shrieked as her felt someone touching her hand. She looked down and saw Gluttony sniffing it. He looked up at her and grinned, showing her his bloodied teeth. “Winry!”

Winry gasped and she felt coldness sweep through her body. Shaking with fright, Winry began to run and ran straight into Envy who held her in place.

“Now where do you think you're going?” Envy sneered. Winry struggled and whacked him across the face with a wrench she snatched out of her back pocket.

“LEAVE ME ALONE!”

Winry started to run but was grabbed by Gluttony. She turned to see Gluttony holding her arm. Tears filled her eyes. “WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS!” Winry tugged her arm desparately, but Gluttony's hold did not falter. Winry felt tears fill her eyes. “I HELP ED YOU!” Gluttony stared at her blankly. Winry grabbed her arm and started pulling, sobbing. Finally she fell to the ground, exhausted. She turned her tear streaked face to him. “Please just tell me why??”

Gluttony looked at her dubiously. “ Because you fed me.”

Winry stared at him, mind not comprehending what he meant by that and then the world went black as pain shot through her head. Winry collapsed into a heap as Envy stood over her, rubbing his head painfully.

“Finally! Jeesh I thought she would never shut up. Damn it that hurt!” Envy complained feeling the bump on his head from her wrench. 

Gluttony leaned over and sniffed Winry's limp hand, whimpering slightly.

“Don't worry, she's not dead. I only knocked her out.” Envy blinked in surprise as Gluttony nuzzled against Winry's head, a giant smile on his face.

“My Lust....my beautiful Lust.”

Envy put his foot against Gluttony's head and pushed him away from her. “Just pick her up and let's go already before I start puking!”

Staring at Envy's retreating figure, Gluttony gently picked Winry up, carrying her bridal style. His face was flushed with happiness as he thought of how in just a short time, his Lust would be reunited with him.  
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Ling I told you! It's not that simple!”

“What's not simple about? If your soul feels unstable, just transmute it to a different object! Nothing can go wrong!”

“But it's all wrong!”

“I see nothing wrong with knowing the key to immortality, especially since it will be my ticket to becoming emperor and saving my clan!”

Alphonse flung his hands up in aggravation. “Ahh, I wish I had brother or Winry here! They would back me up.”

Ling scratched his chin thoughtfully. He sat crosslegged on top of one Edwards bed in their hotel room. He and Lan Fan had sneaked in earlier that day to get Al back on his promise of revealing his secret immortality.....and to eat some of their food.

“I wonder....where is that fair headed beauty?”

Alphonse's looked up at the clock. The arrows showed that it was already past 9:00pm. “Hmmm Winry's been gone since this morning. I wonder if she's okay?”

“The city is not a place for a fair maiden to be walking around at night....”

“YOU'RE NOT HELPING LING!”

Ling scratched the back of his head good naturely. “Hehehe, right....How about I send Lan Fan out to search for her?”

“You would do that?” Al asked hopefully.

“Of course! I would help anyone who reveals secrets to immortality!” 

“Right....” Al muttered irritatedly.

“Lan Fan!” Ling's bodyguard dropped in through the open window, mask glaring intimidatingly. 

“Yes Master.” Lan Fan said, bowing her head.

“Take a look around the city for any signs of Winry!” Ling ordered. He then began to elaborate. “ Remember her? Blonde, blue eyes, big boobs...”

“LING!”

“Hey I'm just trying to make sure she gets the right girl!”

Lan Fan bowed her head. “Do not worry. I remember her well.” With that said, she jumped through the window and vanished into the night.

Al watched her go with a worried expression. “Oh I hope Winry's okay. Brother would kill me if anything happened to her!”

Ling patted his back encouragingly. “Relax my friend. You're immortal! What's the worst he can do to you?”

In Alphonse's mind........

(doodle image of Edward drawn with a crayon)

Edward: Hey Al! I'm home! How were things while I was gone?

(doodle of a badly drawn Al)

Al: Oh fine brother! Everything's fine

Edward: Oh that's cool....hey where's Winry?

Al: Uhhhhh....

Edward (angry expression): Al!

Al (sweating nervously): Now don't be mad brother! But...I...lost...her.

Edward (glares): You know what this means Al....

Al (crying): Please Brother No!

Edward gets a crazed look in his eyes and claps his hands together. As the light fades, in automail arm has transformed into.....a can opener!

Edward: TIME FOR THE CAN OPENER!!!!!!

Al: NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

End of daydream......

“Alphonse!”

“Wha!!!??” Alphonse blinked as he came out of his daydream. He turned to Ling who was looking at him strangely. “What were we talking about?”

Ling scratched his head. “Well I asked you what was the worst thing your brother could do to you?”

Al bowed his head remorsefully. “Don't ask...”

“Ooookkkaayyyy”

“MASTER!”

Both Ling and Alphonse jumped in surprise as Lan Fan jumped through the window. Before Alphonse could ask about Winry, he saw Lan Fan take off her mask, revealing troubling eyes.

Ling looked sternly at her. “Make your report!”

Lan Fan bowed her head. “ I'm afraid I found your friend Winry.” Lan Fan pulled out a wrench from her ninja suit. Al gasped.

“That's Winry's!”

Lan Fan continued. “I'm was afraid about that. I found it next to an alley where a bloodied corpse lay.” Before Alphonse could say anything, Lan Fan cut in. “The corpse was a male. However...” Lan Fan took a deep breath. Ling nodded for her to continue.

“I sensed Homunculi near by. I'm afraid they might of captured Winry.”

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Winry opened her eyes and immediately shut them as a bright light blinded her. Wincing from the sharp pain in her head, she slowly let her eyes adjust to the light. Squinting her eyes, Winry took her first look at her surroundings.

It looked like some sort of medical room, a lot like the clinical rooms her parents used to work in. Medical instruments of all sorts of shapes and sizes lay on a table not too far off from her. Winry felt a flash of panic and her first instinct was to find a way out. Winry tried to stand up, but felt her arms and legs immobile. 

Fighting down panic, Winry realized she was strapped down to a surgical table. Cold sweat started to drip down her forehead.

“What is going on here?” Winry whispered fearfully.

“I told you, you should just forget about it! We can't use her!” 

Winry jumped a little at the sudden sound of other voices. That voice sounded like that green hair boy.

“But Lust! Me need Lust!”

“Damn it's like talking to a wall!” Winry could hear irritation dripping from his voice. “We can't use her! She's way too involved with the Elric Brothers and the military! If they find out she's missing, Mustang's crew are going to be the first one's to go snooping around! I already had to hide our tracks with the Hughes case! I ain't going to work my butt off to do the same here just to bring that whore back!”

“But Lust!”

“Find another body!”

“NOO!”

“Listen you little...”

“Do we have a problem here?” Winry heard both voices stop arguing and an ominous silence fill the room. The new voice that appeared send a cold chill up her spine. The voice sounded like pure evil.

“You can leave now Doc. Their isn't going to be any procedure.” Envy said coldly.

“But Envy...”

“SHUT IT PIG!”

Winry heard a pause and the voice of....who ever he was....spoke.

“The transfer will continue. I have direct orders from Father himself. See....” Winry wondered what he was showing them. “ I already have the stone ready to go.”

A Stone? Could they mean a philosopher.....

“Does Father know who the host is?” Envy asked, voice barely containing his anger.

“Oh yes. He knows everything.”

Their was short pause, in which Winry really hoped they would agree with Envy and drop the whole thing...

“Please..” Winry whispered.

Envy snorted. “Fine go ahead. Hell if I care anyway. Just don't come crawling to me to clean up the mess.” 

Winry felt her heart drop. Her last hope was gone. She faintly heard Gluttony give a small “Hurray!” and then the doors open to the room she was in.

Winry tried to turn her head to look at her capturers. There was the one called Gluttony...the man she had helped out. Winry felt her eyes swell up with tears. How could she be so stupid. Edward was always telling her she was being too nice to people and that there were people in this world who would take advantage of her. Well it looks like you were right, Winry thought sadly.

Beside him, stood a tall man in a white coat, who looked to be a doctor of sorts. In his hand, he held a syringe filled with red liquid. Winry had a bad feeling of what he was going to do with that needle.

“Hello Miss Rockbell.” the doctor smiled, showing off a his one gold tooth.

Winry looked at him in surprise. “You...you know my name?”

“Of course! As a doctor I make it my business to know all about my patients.” The doctor clapped his hands together joyfully.

Winry began to shake. Something felt really off about this man. She turned to Gluttony again. Maybe he would help her. She had to try or else she would never see her Al or Edward again.

“Gluttony. I'm begging you. Please help me!” Winry openly let tears fall from her eyes. “ I just want to see my family again.”

Gluttony walked over to her and set his huge hand over her small one. Winry gave a small smile, thinking he was going to change his mind. Gluttony smiled up at her.

“Don't worry Lust. We'll be together again.”

“What?” Winry questioned, before a short pain shot through her arm and the world around her went black as the blinding pain exploded in her body.


	3. Getting Used to the Body

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lust and Winry come face to face with each other for the first time as Lust takes over her body. How will Winry handle this parasite?

Chapter 3: Getting Used to the Body

 

The first thing Winry noticed was the pain. The red, hot pain that seemed to engulf her entire being. Nothing she did would help her escape it. It was everywhere, surrounding her. Images of her past seemed to flicker into her line of vision. Her parents saying goodbye to her right before they left for Isheval, having her granny sit down with her and explain that they never return. The night her world turned upside down as Alphonse walked into the their home holding a bleeding and dying Edward.   
Those images clouded her mind and made the pain intensify. She wanted it to end so badly. She would do anything for it to just end. Anything.

“Even die?”

Winry opened her eyes. Despite the intense pain, she forced herself to focus on her surroundings. She could see she was in some sort of dark red void. The voice that had spoken seemed to be radiating off a pair of violet eyes that stared down at her hungrily.

“So would you die?”

Winry gasped as the pain intensified, doubling her over. Yes, dying would be a great release. She would be hurting anymore. She would even be with her parents....

“Yes, it would be all too easy to be release from the pain.” The voice stated in a sultry feminine voice. “All you would have to do is let go....”

“Let go?” Winry whispered.

“Yes.” the voice purred.

Was it really that easy? Winry felt her willingness starting to slip away. Everything was beginning to get blurry. In the corner of her eyes, she could see the pair of eyes narrow triumphantly. They glared at her as if willing her to get on with it. In her dying vision, those eye's seemed to transform. The color seemed to warp into a more golden hue...

“Golden eyes?”

An image of Edward filled her mind. A memory of him first learning to walk with his automail leg. His weak body leaning on her for support, as he took on painful step at a time, while a young Winry whispered words of encouragement to him.

Months later Edward and Winry stood next to the platform where Edward's house had once stood. The night before, the brothers had burned it down, to will them to continue on their journey to find a way to get Alphonse's body back. Winry stared at the depressing scene, thinking about how the next day Edward and Alphonse would be going to Central to work for the military. 

A nagging thought had been eating at her mind all day and before she could stop herself she turned to Edward and asked, “Aren't you afraid you're going to die?” 

Winry felt tears fill her eyes and instantly wished she hadn't asked. Edward turned to her, a look his eyes holding a blank expression. Winry clenched her fist together, fighting the urge to run from those haunted eyes. However, a warm light started to grow in them and Edward gave her a lopside grin.

“Nahh I can't afford to die. Not when I have a promise to fulfill.” Winry saw Edward walk toward her house, where they both knew a suit of armor waited for their return.

Then an image of her and Alphonse that very morning. Her giving him a hug and making a promise to him that she would always be there to help them.

She promised....

Winry's eyes popped open, blue eyes blazing with life. She floated up to the pair of violet eyes, who had widened with shock.

“I'm not going to die! Dying may be the easy way out, but I made a promise to the people I love and I'm going to live to fulfill that promise!” 

The violet eyes narrowed into slits. “I'm afraid you have no choice in that matter. This body is mine now.”

“This..body? What do you mean by that!” Winry shouted.

“Well I guess the old saying is true. Blondes are pretty slow.”

“Hey!” Winry yelled, glaring at the pair of face.

The face gave a slight chuckle. “My you are a feisty one. Gluttony sure out did himself this time.”

The face turned upward, sighing contently. “Well it looks like I have to cut our little chat short. It's time for me to awaken.”

Winry balled up her fists angrily. “Hey don't you dare leave me! I still have some questions for you!”

The face smiled wickedly at her. “Sorry girl, but my body calls me.”

It was in that second Winry realized the truth. Gluttony's and Envy's conversation, the one she had overheard...Envy demanding for them to find a new body....Gluttony who had kept referring to her as Lust...wasn't Lust the homunculus that Alphonse had said had died the night before in Laboratory #3.  
Lust was going to use her body....

“THAT'S MY BODY YOU WITCH!!!!”

“Oh finally caught up did you? Well don't worry dear. I'll use it well.” Lust gave a seductive wink. “Until then, sit back and enjoy the show.”

 

Golden hair was the first thing she saw when she opened her violet eyes. Strands of blonde were stuck to her forehead. Dried sweat caked her body, as if she had just ran for miles. A shower was one of things she was going to do with her new body among other things.....

“Lust?”

Lust turned her gaze to Gluttony, who stood at the edge of the operation table. He was looking at her questioningly, wringing his large hands nervously.

“Is it really you?” His question sounded almost like a whimper. Lust allowed a small smile to cross her face. She reached out a hand and stroked the side of Gluttony's face. 

“Yes it's really me.” she whispered quietly.

Tears rolled down Gluttony's face and he nuzzled his head into her lap affectionately, like child finding his mother. The moment of peace was broken by a certain green-haired homunculus.

“So it really worked.” Envy leaned against the wall, looking bored. “Guess the stone didn't do you in after all.”

“You sound disappointed.” Lust remarked, stroking Gluttony's head.

Envy smirked. “Well what can I say? I was expecting a show.”

“Don't be disappointed just yet. The show just getting started. You see...” Gluttony blinked in surprise as Lust stopped petting him. She held her new hands up, examining them. She smirked as they turned a dark, black color and transformed into blade like claws. “I'm not quite done playing with fire.”

Envy frowned, narrowing his eyes at her. “What do you mean by that?”

Lust fiddled with her claws. “I mean...” Lust slashed out, cutting the operating table in half. “that I haven't forgotten a certain pair of onyx eyes that killed me off.”

Envy growled and stepped up to Lust's face. “Hold it! You're not talking about going after Mustang are you?!”

“What if I am?” Lust argued, voice dangerously low. “I want my revenge.”

“YOUR CRAZY!” Envy yelled, balling his fist up. “Have you forgotten what he did to you last time? Or since you got this new body, you think your 'Oh so invincible?!'”

Lust gave a small chuckle, a smile playing on her lips. “Oh you're partly right. It's true I haven't forgotten about the last time I fought Mustang. I can still feel those scorching eyes blazing into me.” For a moment, it seemed like Lust had lost herself in her memories, but then she continued to smile. “However this new body may not be invincible, but it does give me an element of surprise I didn't have before.”

Lust pointed a claw to her head. “You see, her memories show me she is close to Fullmetal who Mustang has close contacts with.” Her lovely face took on a sinister expression. “Something tells me he'll think twice before harming one of Fullmetal's little playmates.”

“Yeah and one problem, HE'S A POTENTIAL SACRIFICE! Father would be furious if you killed him!” Envy pointed out angrily.

Lust turned her back to Envy and started walking out of the room. “Come Gluttony.”

Gluttony smiled and jogged after her obediently.

Envy clenched his knuckles, glaring at her retreating figure. “Hey! Didn't you hear me!?”

Lust stopped and turned one eye to Envy. “No offense, but I don't give a damn of what father thinks. I want my revenge.” Lust turned away, disappearing into the darkness.

Envy watched her go, a sinking feeling in his stomach. He ran a hand through his green hair. “ I have a bad feeling about this.”

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Lust stepped out into the early morning dawn. Behind her, Gluttony shut the door to the secret entrance to the tunnels that led underground inwards Father's lair. Making sure the door was completely shut, Gluttony walked over to Lust, who was staring out of the alley, mind elsewhere.

Gluttony gently tugged her shirt. “Is Lust okay?” Lust blinked, and looked down at her companion. She gave a soft smile.

I'm fine. It's just everything feels different in this body.”

Gluttony tilted his head “Different?”

“Yes, different.” She turned sharply to him, voice suddenly demanding. “Gluttony I need you to find me a bathroom where I can be alone.” She ran a hand though her new blonde hair. “I wish to be alone to get acquainted with my new body.”

Within minutes, Gluttony had sniffed out an apartment where the inhabitants were elsewhere, either at work or out to church. Lust strutted confidently into the house after severing the doorknob with one of her claws. She walked straight into the bathroom. Before closing the door, Lust turned to Gluttony with cold eyes.

“Eat whoever tries to disturb me.”

Gluttony smiled and nodded his head.

“Good boy.”

Lust began peeling her clothes off, throwing Winry's white tank top and black skirt on the floor. She stared disdainfully at them. “Definitely need to get a new wardrobe after this.”

Turning to the mirror, Lust took her first look at her new face. The first thing she noticed was the hair. Golden strands cascaded down, framing each side of her face. Lust ran a hand through them, frowning slightly.

“It's a little too bright for my liking.” She pushed her bangs away from her eyes. “But it will do.”

Her eyes were the only thing that remained the same. Instead of a sapphire blue, they blazed with a dark violet color. Her eyes were narrowed in concentration. They seemed to clash slightly with the young face, that still held an ounce of innocence. Lust sighed. This body was merely that of a child, just barely hitting womanhood.

Turning away from the mirror, Lust made the conclusion that Gluttony had picked out a body of the exact opposite of what she was used too. However, Lust thought as she stepped into the shower, it was not the worst body he could have picked. She just need to make a few adjustments.

Turning the hot water on, Lust sighed in relief as all the dirt and grime washed away. Now she felt truly alive.

She looked down, smirking slightly as she noted the rest of her body. I may still have a baby face, but of least the rest of my looks developed.

Lust grabbed a handful of her breast and gave it a squeeze. Nice and full...maybe a little too perky for my liking. Nice flat stomach, athletic legs. She rubbed her forearms and frowned. A little too much muscle that's appropriate for a lady, but it could have it's advantages.

Lust frowned, eyes narrowing in thought. This body seems adequate for me and everything seems in order, but why do I still have a feeling somethings wrong?

Dismissing the thought, Lust turned off the shower and stepped out into the steam bathroom. She glared disdainfully at the clothes she had deposited on the floor.

“Well I guess I have no choice.” She picked up the black skirt and started pulling it up. “I have no time to look for a new wardrobe. If I'm going to seek my revenge, I need to do it today before Father tries to intervene.”

Gluttony grinned and ran up to Lust as she walked out of the bathroom fully dressed. Lust glanced at the kitchen, noticing it was in a state of disarray. She patted Gluttony on the head. “I guess you got yourself a little snack while we were here?”

Gluttony nodded, but clutched his stomach in pain as it gave a loud growl. Lust made a sad pouty face.

“Aww is my Gluttony still hungry?”

Gluttony nodded his head and whimpered. Lust gave a malicious grin. “How would you like to eat a Mr. Roy Mustang?”

Gluttony nodded his head excitedly, licking his lips in anticipation. He knew Lust would never let him go hungry.

Lust walked out through the door, Gluttony following. “Let's go give our patient a little visit.”

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Winry! Winry!” Alphonse called out. The people around him gave him annoyed looks as he continued to shout, not bothering to be polite as he pushed through them. He had been searching all night for Winry, walking the streets of Central until the morning light shown brightly on his armor.

“Winry! Winry! Oh where are you Winry?!” Alphonse moaned. He sat down on the steps of a large cathedral. “Where could you be?” He asked himself hopelessly.

“Do you mind!?” Alphonse jumped and turned around to see the doors of the church open and a man in a long, black robe peering at him with an irritated look. “We're trying to have a church service.”

“Oh sorry!” Alphonse quickly apologized, blushing in embarrassment. The man gave a huff and slammed the door. Alphonse sighed.

“You know he's right.” Came a voice from inside Al's armor. “You are being awfully loud.” Ling flung open Al's chest, yawning and stretching. “Some of us are trying to sleep.”

“You know you could be a little more helpful.”

“Hey! Us mortal people need our beauty sleep.”

“I couldn't sleep even if I was able to! I'm so worried about Winry. This is all my fault. I shouldn't of let her go out by herself!”

Ling patted his armor back comfortingly. “Ah Al you're right...it is all your fault.”

“WHAT!?” Al gasped in despair.

“But don't worry my friend! You shall redeem you honor by find the fair maiden! I assure you Lan Fan is a professional tracker and will locate the Homunculus' lair in no time!”

“You really think so?” Al asked hopefully.

Ling crossed his arms behind his back in a carefree manner. “Yes. Yes I do!” There was a moment where Alphonse relaxed a little and let his worries wash away. “Besides if we don't locate Winry soon, your brother's going to cut us both apart with a can opener!”

“LING! How did you...”

“Lucky guess. Your mind isn't that hard to read.” Ling noticed Alphonse getting flustered and waved his hand. “Relax! I was only joking.”

Alphonse sighed. “Actually you're not too far from the truth. Edward really cares a lot for Winry and it would kill him if anything bad would of happened to her.”

Ling quirked an eyebrow at him. “Really? I didn't think Edward was the caring type.”

“He just has a hard time expressing his feelings. He finds it easier just to punch things.”

“Mmhmm I see.” Ling took up a thoughtful expression. A big smile dawned on his face and he punched his fist into his palm. “ I got it!” Ling struck up a dramatic pose, shiny sparkles dancing around him. “Along with my quest to find immortality, I shall make it my duty to teach Edward the ways of courtship!”

Alphonse sweat dropped. “Uhhh I don't think Brother would be very appreciative of your advice.”

“What are you talking about?! By the time I'm done with him, Winry will be fawning over at his feet! Just look at Lan Fan!”

Alphonse slapped his hand to his forehead. “Let's just keep looking.” He began to walk away, but stopped when he felt a hand on his back. Turning, he saw Ling looking up at him, all silliness washed away.

“Al we'll find her. Don't worry.”

Alphonse nodded his head, grateful for Ling's support. They walked in silence for a couple of minutes. Feeling the need to get something off his chest, Alphonse looked down at Ling.

“You know Ling, I want to thank you for all you and Lan Fan's help. It really means a lot to me.”

Ling continued to walk, not looking at Al. “I hate to say this but we're not doing this just for your benefit. Those homunculus hold the key to immortality that is crucial to our quest. By finding your friend, we are also close to finding our goal as well.”

Al thought this over. “Well I'm still grateful. Whether you think so or not, you're really helping me out.”

Ling smiled in acknowledgment.

Suddenly Lan Fan dropped down in front of them. Ling clapped his hands together. “Ah Lan Fan! We were just talking about you and your amazing tracking skills. So tell us the good news! Where are the homunculus at?”

“I couldn't find them.” Lan Fan state bluntly.

“That's great! Let's get going...WHAT?!” Ling yelled, flames popping up behind him. “I thought you could sense their auras!”

“I haven't felt their presence since last night. They could of left the area or traveled underground, past where I can sense.”

“But I bragged about you!” Ling moaned, comical tears running down his face.

“I am sorry my lord.” Lan Fan said, bowing her head.

Ling sighed. “It's okay, We'll just have to keep trying.” He turned to Alphonse, who had remained strangely quiet during the conversation. “You okay Alphonse?”

Alphonse snapped his head up, blinking. “Oh I was just thinking..well...I think we're going to need more help.”

“More help? From who?” Ling asked.

“Maybe Colonel Mustang and Lieutenant Hawkeye. I know they would be willing to help look for Winry, especially if homunculus are involved.

Ling grinned sheepishly. “No offense Al, but I'm not really in your military's good favor at the moment.” He pointed to his head. “Escape refugee remember?”

“Oh yeah, I forgot.”

“But if you want, you can go to them and I'll continue to search by myself.” Al looked at him in surprise.

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely! And while I'm gone, you can take Lan Fan with you!”

“WHAT?!” Both Lan Fan and Al yelled.

“But Ling!”

“My Lord!”

Ling held up a hand to silence them. When he spoke, he spoke in an orderly manner. “Al,no offense but you have no sense of chi. A homunculus could walk by you in disguise and you would have no idea. That's why I want Lan Fan to stay with you to help you out if you come upon a homunculus.” He turned to Lan Fan. “Lan Fan, you may be my body guard, but I am still capable of taking care of myself.” His tone softened and he gave her a gentle smile. “I promise you I'll be fine!”

Lan Fan's eyes' stared at him with worry through her mask, but she bowed her head, giving him her consent. Ling nodded, satisfied.

“Okay well good luck to ya'll! I'll meet with you all tonight.” With that, Ling took off.

Alphonse glanced at Lan Fan and attempted a smile. “Okay, sooo you're ready to go?”

Lan Fan jumped up onto the nearby rooftops. “I'll scout ahead.” She took off, jumping from roof to roof in a ninja like fashion.

Alphonse sighed sadly. “Right.” He began walking toward the Central military hospital, his thoughts on a certain blonde haired girl who was still missing.


	4. A Hospital Visit!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Mustang is recuperating in the hospital after his battle with Lust, a new enemy starts to make its move....

The Central Military Hospital. A place where the heroes of our nation can rest and recuperate from their injuries from battle. Each of these rooms has hidden a man or woman who has risked life and death to protect the citizens of Amestris. A hero, each and everyone of them. But there is one man that stands out among all others. Yes the man I'm talking about is Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist and well known hero of the Ishvalan War. Roy Mustang...there is no one else in the military who fosters as much courage, endurance, and above all, class......

“Dammit Havoc! It's my turn with the radio!”

“No way! I like this song!” Jean Havoc argued, turning the volume up on the radio which sat on the window sill next to his bed. He hummed along as a woman's sultry voice sang a jazzy tune. Roy gave an angry growl, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

“If you expect me to listen to this crap all day...” Jean looked at him in amazement. 

“Crap?” He said, motioning dramaticly to the radio. “This happens to be Selena Ratchez! The hottest singer in Amestris! Awww I could just listen to her all day, just imagining her singing and dancing...on a pole...”

Roy sighed irritably, running his hand through his raven hair. “You sure got over your break up fast.”

Jean shot Roy a look. “Well that tends to happen when your girlfriend decides to PARALYZE YOU FROM THE WAIST DOWN!”

Roy rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I guess that would be a pretty big deal breaker...” Roy then gave Jean a strict look. “ However, that's beside the point.” He pointed a threatening finger at Jean. “Havoc as your commanding officer, I order you to change that dial!”

Jean glared at him and began to turn the radio up. “Piss off. I'm retired.” Jean laid back in his pillow and began to hum again.

Roy's pointing finger drooped in defeat. His face turned an angry red color and a murderous glint shined in his eyes. Puffing out his chest he leaned over as far as he could towards Havoc's side of the room. Havoc opened one eye at the Colonel.

“What?” He asked in a bored tone.

“Havoc...” Roy said is a dangerously, low commanding voice. “ you are still in a military unit and you have not officially signed the resignation papers. Until those papers are signed and stamped by myself you are still under my command!!!! And as your commanding officer I order you to GIVE ME THAT RADIO!!!”

“No.”

“NO WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO?! That was a direct order!!!”

Havoc flicked his thumb towards the radio nonchalantly. “ Yeah, but the radio's on my side of the room. So I'm in charge of it!” Jean stuck his tongue and pulled down the bottom of his eye. “Muwaaaa!!!”

Roy gaped at him. “Why you little...I SAVED YOUR LIFE!”

Jean gave him a deadpan expression. “Yeah...what does that have to do with the radio?”

“YOU UNGRATEFUL BASTARD!!!”

Riza Hawkeye busted through the door. “What is going on here?” She asked sternly, glaring at the two men.

Roy and Jean glared at each other and then back at Riza, pointing accusing fingers at each other.

“HE STARTED IT!”

Riza covered her face with one hand. “Not again...”

Mustang pointed his finger at Havoc. “I refuse to share a room with this man any longer!”

Riza rolled her brown eyes. “ What did he do this time, Sir?”

“He's hogging the radio!!!”

Jean crossed his arms in a pouty manner, glaring daggers at Roy. “Yeah, yeah, yeah! Go tattle to your nanny!”

Roy turned to him angrily. “She is not my nanny!! I am a grown man!”

“Yeah right! Then why you're always getting Riza to fight your battles for you? How about you come take this radio from me yourself?! YOU WET MATCHSTICK!!”

“WHY I OUGHT TO....”

“That's enough.” Riza's threatening voice instantly quieted the two men. She took out her shotgun and started twirling it around, walking back and forth between the men's beds. Almost like a panther stalking before it pounces on it's prey. Roy and Jean never took their eyes off her.

“Now listen. You two are suppose to be resting and recuperating. Not fighting like little children!”

“Hey we're not children.” They both spoke up in defense. Riza gave them a look that would send lesser men hiding for their lives.

“Then start acting like it!” She ordered. “Look, there are other patients in this hospital so you two need to get along, play nice, and keep quiet.” She clicked her gun in warning. “Understood?”

Jean and Roy both gulped and muttered, “Yes ma’am.”

“Good. If you need me, I'll be guarding the door.” As she turned around and started walking away, she could faintly hear Havoc mutter.

“We're still listen to Selena Ratchez.”

“Dammit Havoc! I'm going to...”

BANG!!!

Both boys jumped in fear as Riza shot her gun at the radio. The bullet hit it's mark and the radio laid smoking and useless. Riza put her gun back into her holster.

“There. Now there's no radio. Problem solved.”

The two men gaped at her as she walked out the door. Jean let out a sigh of relief to have survived that ordeal. He took out a cigarette and began to light it. “Man, she's in a prissy mood today.”

Roy stared at his sheets, frowning. “She's had a rough night.” He remarked silently.

Jean looked down at his immobile legs. “Yeah she's not the only one.” He glanced at Roy, who was staring at the door, no doubt thinking of the woman on the other side. Havoc smiled slyly, revenge playing on his mind.

“Unless there was another activity you and Hawkeye did the other night that I'm not aware of....”

Havoc fought a laugh as he saw Roy's shoulders tense up. “What are you implying soldier?” Roy asked in a dangerous whisper.

Havoc shrugged his shoulders, smiling. “I don't know. You tell me. You do dig her right?”

Roy send Havoc a murderous glare. However, Jean noted, there was no denying that Mustang's face had turned several shades redder. “Me and Lt. Hawkeye's relationship is purely professional.” Roy remarked coldly.

Jean snorted impatiently. “Cut the crap Roy.”

Roy blinked in surprised. Havoc took a long drag from his cig and blew it out. “ I'm retired now, remember? You're no longer my superior and I'm no longer your subordinate.” Havoc gave a wryly smile. “So as far as anyone's concerned, we're just two friends sharing a hospital room together.” Havoc leaned in closer to Roy, arms resting on the small table that sat between their beds. “So man to man, are there any girls you've got your eyes on?” Jean rolled his eyes, irritatedly. “Besides mine.”

Roy sat frowning at him for a minute, but then grinned. “Well, there is this one girl...” Jean leaned in closer, like a school girl hearing the latest gossip. Roy continued. “She works in a flower shop. Pretty dedicated to that shop.” He glanced at the door. “Her names Elizabeth.”

Silenced followed this statement. Each man lost in his own thoughts. The silence was broken by Havoc giving a heavy sigh, head resting against the head board. 

“Well looks like I'm the only one without a girl then.” He glared at Roy with mock anger. “Lucky Bastard.”

Roy gave a low chuckle, smiling at Havoc. “Oh I wouldn't be so sure. Elizabeth's very busy with her shop. I doubt she'll have the time for a grouch like me.”

“You got that right.” Havoc mumbled. A pillow smacked him in the head, causing his cigarette to fall to the floor. 

“HEY! I only get one of those a DAY!”

“Oh stop complaining.” Roy said, laying his head down on his pillow and turning away from Havoc. “If you don't Riza will shoot both our asses.”

Havoc grinned. “You mean Elizabeth?”

Roy chose not to reply.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Completely ignorant to the two men's conversation, Riza Hawkeye stood dutifully guarding their room, eyes glancing left and right for possible threats.

Roy's doctor walked by, glancing at her with a worried expression. She had not left her post since his patient had checked in the night before. The doctor stopped next to her. 

Riza glanced at him, frowning. He gave a nervous smile. “Umm good day miss. I understand your here to guard my two patients?”

“Yes, that's correct.” she answered curtly.

“Oh yes, well I've noticed you've been here for well over 24 hours at least.” Riza watched him as he straightened his glasses nervously. “That's quite a long time for the body to go without any rest. Don't you have a replacement?” He began to fidget as she continued to stare at him with her hawk-like eyes. He stopped in surprise when she gave him a small smile.

“Please don't bother worrying about me. I'm fine. The safety of your patients is far more important to me.”

The doctor still looked bothered and opened his mouth to argue, but Riza held up her hand. “I'll have someone replace my post in about a hour.”

The doctor blushed slightly. “Yes...very good.” He continued down the hall.

Riza watched him go, letting out a weary sigh. It's true, she had been at the hospital for a very long time. Thirty hours to be exact. Kain Fuery had already came by twice to replace her but she had refused each time. Riza knew she was being stubborn and maybe just a little stupid, but she couldn't help it. She felt like she had to do this. She had to make up for her mistakes.....

“Leave me Alphonse!” Riza yelled out, tears running down her face. “Just get out of here!!!”

Alphonse stood and protected her from Lust's killing blows. “NO! I WON'T! I'm sick of watching people die because of my weaknesses. I won't let another person I care about be killed! Not if there's anything I can do to protect them!!” 

“Well spoken! I couldn't agree more.” It was at that moment Roy Mustang showed up to save them from Lust, killing her in a wall of flames. Later, Roy had reprimanded her for giving up on the fight so quickly.

“How could you just lose the will to fight!?” the Colonel yelled angrily at her. “I expected more out of you, Lt. Hawkeye!”

Riza closed her eyes, shamefully. “I'm very sorry.” She replied quietly. Roy growled.

“Learn to keep it together! You can't shut down under pressure. And never EVER give up on life!!”

Riza bowed her head, willing herself not to cry. Roy sighed heavily. “As a solder and as my subordinate, you need to fine up your resolve.”

“Yes sir.” Rize answered dutifully.

Roy shut his eyes, resting his head on his bed, exhausted. He wearily tuned his eyes to her, softening slightly. “I'm going to continue to trust you with my back. Devote yourself to this task.”

And Riza had. Not leaving her post to eat or sleep and only taking the quickest of bathroom breaks. Her food and water had been delivered to her. Nothing will happen to Roy under her watch. She would not lose him again....

Riza clutched her chest, grimacing as the pain of the other night came back. It had hurt so much. It had seemed like her whole world had came crashing down when Lust had said Roy was dead. What was she saying? Of course her world had ended because Roy was her world...

Riza shook her head, banishing that thought. No matter what her feelings, she could not stray from her duties. The battle with Lust had only proven how letting your emotions lose control could get you killed. Her feelings for Roy had almost caused her to lose his trust and that will never happen again. From this moment on, she would never let her emotions get the better of her. 

Riza narrowed her eyes. There was one emotion she wished she could see right now....Lust...oh how she wished she could put a bullet through that bitch's face....

“Good morning, Lt. Hawkeye!”

Lust? Riza turned sharply, eye's narrowing dangerously and hand on her gun. Her's eyes widened in surprise when she spotted not Lust, but Winry Rockbell smiling at her.

“Winry?” Riza asked, surprised.

Winry's smile disappeared to be replaced by a confused look. “Yeah of course. Did you think I was someone else?”

Riza allowed a friendly smile dawn on her face. “Oh it was nothing. For a second you sounded like someone else that's all.” Riza took her hand away from her gun and let her body relax. “It's very nice to see you again, Miss Rockbell. What brings you down to the hospital?”

Winry gave a small smile, eyes sparkling. “Well actually I came down to check on you and Colonel Mustang.” She wrung her hands together, concern shadowing her face. “Alphonse told me how you guys got into a fight with Lust and I wanted to check and make sure everyone was okay.”

“Well that's really nice of you Winry.” Riza commented. “I assure you we're alright.”

Winry frowned, looking past Riza at Roy and Jean's door. “Is Colonel Mustang in there?” She got a shocked look on her face. “He isn't hurt badly, is he?!” Winry's eyes filled with tears.

Riza held up her hands, laughing slightly. “No! No! He's fine! Him and Jean are just in there resting.” Riza stepped aside, letting Winry through. “Why don't you go on in? I'm sure they'll appreciate some company.”

“Oh can I really? Thank you Lt. Hawkeye!” Winry made a move to open the door, but stopped when Riza put a hand on her shoulder. Winry's eyes narrowed dangerously for a second, but returned to normal when she saw Riza was smiling down at her in a motherly way.

“Just don't take too long.” Riza asked nicely. “They really do need their rest.”

Winry turned around, back facing Riza. She didn't see the sinister smile that spread across her face as Winry replied. “Oh don't worry. This won't take long at all.”

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Stupid bitch. Lust thought as she walked past Riza. I expected a lot more of fight from her. I guess she must have a soft spot for this new body of mine. Lust smirked to herself. This body is becoming quite a little catch.

Lust quickly replaced the smirk with a more charming smile as she came in view of the two men. They were laying in the hospital beds and seeming to be having a heavy conversation. They didn't hear Lust as she walked in.

“I'm telling you Roy that nurse, what's her name? Kate? She's by far the hottest one here!” Havoc took on a dreamy expression. “What I wouldn't give to have her give me a sponge bath.” Drool hung down from the corner of his mouth. 

Lust gave a internal growl, nails growing more claw-like in anger. Didn't take long for him to get over me, did it? I'll make sure your death is slow and painful...

Roy gave him a 'shut up' look. “Please stop Jean. Lunch is going to be here soon and I would like to hold it down.”

Idiots. Lust thought, rolling her eyes. She gave a small cough, signaling her presence. Roy and Jean looked up at her in surprise, faces turning red. Roy quickly recovered, a charming smile lighting his face.

“Miss Rockbell! What a pleasant surprise!” Roy said, cheerfully.

Pleasant indeed. Lust gave a fake smile. “Good morning Colonel Mustang!” She nodded politely to Jean Havoc. “Lt. Havoc!”

Havoc waved a hand, winking at Lust. “Hey Winry! Nice to finally see a pretty face around here!”

“Oh stop it!” Lust giggled. I think I'm going to puke. She put on a face of mock surprise. “Oh my! You guys look simply awful! That must have been some fight you both were in!”

Jean and Roy glanced at each other, and back at Lust, crooked grins on their faces.

“Oh it's nothing to worry your pretty head about.” Roy said coolly.

“Yeah we're not as bad as we look.” Havoc commented. “I can't feel any of my injuries. Literally!”

“You should of seen the other guy. I say he got the worst end of the deal.” Roy chuckled.

“He?!” Winry growled, an angry vein popping up on her head.

“Yep, pretty tough dude! But nothing us two strong men couldn't handle.” Havoc bragged, flexing his muscles.

Dirty little liars...

“Sorry we can't give out too much information. But rest assured, you can sleep well tonight knowing me and Havoc here have taken another monster off the streets.” Roy remarked, smiling at her.

Unknown to them, Lust's anger was at a bubbling point. “MONSTER!? HOW DARE THEY CALL ME A MONSTER!!! I'LL KILL THEM ALL!!!”

Roy looked at her expectantly. “ So Miss Rockbell. I'm sure you're not here just to hear a bunch of us old military men brag. Is there something you needed?”

Lust forcefully swallowed her anger and replaced it with a face blushing with innocence. “Well it's funny you asked. You see the real reason I came here was...” She put on a flustered air. “I'm sorry! I'm just kind of embarrassed to ask...”

Roy gave her a kind smile. “Oh don't be scared. We're here to help.”

“Yep! Ask away!” Jean agreed.

“Well...” Lust looked up at them with sparkling eyes. “I need some boy advice.”

Roy and Jean's confused faces' turned into faces of absolute, uncontrollable glee. Which was instantly replaced with mock serious expressions.

“Oh my.” Roy said severely, choking back a laugh. “I'm sure me and Jean will do all we can to help you out with your situation.” He turned to Havoc who had his mouth covered by both hands, tears running down his face as he fought out a laugh. “Isn't that right, Havoc?”

“Oh God, it's Fullmetal isn't it?!” Havoc blurted out. “This is just too good!”

Roy rolled his eyes and smiled at Lust. “Sorry about my Lieutenant. He's high on his medication right now.” Havoc pushed his face into his pillow to drown out his laughter. “Now about your boy problem. If it's about Fullmetal, as I'm confident it is, you must remember that Edward is still a boy, not yet used to the advances of beautiful young women like yourself.” 

Roy took a moment to cough into his hand, hiding the laughter in his cough well. “He, himself might still be too immature to fully appreciate a nice girl like you. Either that or he's too shy to even make a move, what with his deep insecurities with his shortness and his other shortcomings, such as his temper and lack of fashion sense. Winry, my dear, my advice for you is, since Fullmetal is too naïve to tell a girl apart from a piece of automail, is to just go ahead and make the first move! Just do it! But more importantly...do it in a place where we can all see and take a picture for memories sake! Because face it! The first kiss is the most memorable moment in a young person's life and should be taken, developed, copied, and used for black mail! Hell! Do it in my office! I'll call Edward in on Monday!”

Havoc pulled his head away from his pillow, tears streaming down his face. “Bless you Colonel Mustang! That was beautiful advice!”

Roy rubbed his chin smugly. “Yes, yes it was. And also don't forget to wear a miniskirt. I hear young men now a days are quite into that...”

“If I could walk sir, I would come and hug you!”

Lust fought the urge to puke and instead gave a polite smile. “Thank you for the advice Colonel Mustang, but I'm afraid Edward is not the boy I was talking about.”

Roy and Jean stared at her with surprised faces. “He's not?”

“Oh no!” Lust purred, walking to the side of Mustang's bed. She looked up at him with seductive eyes. “The boy I was talking about....is you.”

“WHAT?!” Jean yelled.

Roy stared at her in shock, brain not quite registering. “Wait...me? But...” Roy for the first time in his life was at a lost for words. “But why me?!” he choked out. Lust smiled, leaning closer to him. Her body pushed against the metal rails of Roy's hospital bed, making her boobs pop up sexily. Roy was able to get a good view of her rack. Sweat poured down him as he tried avert his gaze away from her womanly parts.

“Well you said it yourself Colonel Mustang.” Lust ran her finger along Roy's forearm, sending shivers up his spine. “Fullmetal is merely a boy and why would I want a boy...” Lust grabbed his chin, turning his face towards hers. “When I could have a man?”

An awkward silenced followed this statement. Havoc looked from Lust to Roy with an look of complete disbelief, mouth hanging open. Roy himself had a look that resembled a deer in the headlights.

“C..c...come again?” He stuttered.

“You heard me Colonel.” Lust purred, leaning in closer to Roy, inches from his face. She placed her hand on the side of his face, caressing gently. “Edward's nothing but a mere child. A silly boy who can't see something good when it's in front of him.” She leaned even closer, the upper half of her body practically on top of his chest. She smiled at him seductively, violet eyes staring him with desire..“ But those dark eyes, they can see just fine, can't they Colonel?”

To say that Roy was in a bad predicament would be the understatement of the year. Never in any of Roy's years of military training, fighting in the Ishvalan Civil, or defeating immortal monsters had prepared him for this. Here was a girl...no...no...a sixteen year old girl!! Wait...worst than that....the girl that the Fullmetal Alchemist had a crush on.....was practically throwing herself at him....in a hospital bed....with only a hospital gown on.....oh boy. 

The situation would actually be extremely funny, if the circumstances were different. Such as Winry just having a small girly crush on him, in which Roy could smugly rub it in Fullmetal's face anytime the pipsqueak annoyed him. Yes, that would have been fine and dandy. But no, this was far away from just a school girl crush and was becoming waaaayyy too intimate for his liking. 

Roy gulped, trying to think of a way to get out of this. However it was getting rather difficult to come up with a solution when an image of Edward cutting off his head kept reappearing in his mind. Oh why didn't the Academy prepare him for this??

Trying to ignore Lust's alluring gaze. Roy cleared his throat, willing it not to squeak. “M.Miss Rockbell as correct as your words are, this is still very inappropriate behavior for a girl your age and I insist you decease at once!” Roy demanded, his voice steadying becoming bolder and more commanding. He gave her a stern glare.

Lust smiled at him playfully. “You're right. How's this for appropriate?”

Roy's eye's widened in surprise as Lust threw herself completely on top of him. She sat, straddling his waist, smirking at him in amusement at his face turned a bright shade of red, mouth hanging open at a lost for words as he stared at her with stunned eyes. She gave him a playful wink, bending down and placing her hands on each of his shoulders. “How's that?” She purred.

“You know I'm still here!” Havoc called out in an annoyed voice. “And I'm starting to get really ticked off...”

BAM! A well aimed wrench knocked against Havoc's forehead, completely knocking him unconscious. Lust turned her attention back on to a stunned Roy.

“There, now it's just you and me.” Lust whispered. She slid her hand down his face, stopping at his chin. With a delicate finger she lifted up his chin, forcing him his black eyes to meet her violet ones. “Now you're all mine.” 

Roy hissed in pain as the finger under his chin poked him sharply, blood dripping onto his neck. Turning his eyes downward, Roy's heart pumped in fear as he saw the hand on his shoulder was growing, becoming more claw-like, nails becoming as sharp as knives. Roy instinctively reached his arm out to grab his ignition gloves on the stand next to his bed.

A long black claw stabbed the gloves, missing Roy's hand by an inch. His eye's turned fearfully to Lust, who was shaking a finger at him like he was some naughty boy. “Tsk tsk tsk. Don't you know it's dangerous to play with fire?”

Roy glanced from the claws that had struck his gloves to Lust's violet eye's, which were staring at Roy like a spider who had caught a fly. “Winry?” He asked in a shaky voice.

Lust gave a devilish grin, claws aiming at Roy's neck. “Close, but not quite....”

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Lt. Hawkeye!” 

Riza turned her head to look down the hall, where a huge suit of armor was making his way toward her. She smiled, nodding a greeting to Alphonse. “Good morning Alphonse. We seem to be getting lots of visitors today.”

“Visitors?” Alphonse asked questioning.

Riza nodded her head. “Yes, Winry showed up just a minute ago. She's in the room now visiting Colonel Mustang and Lt. Havoc. I'm surprised she didn't mention you were coming.”

“Winry's here!!!??” Alphonse exclaimed excitedly. Riza blinked in surprise.

“Yes. Why? What's wrong?” Riza asked. 

“Winry's been missing! I've been searching for her all night!” Alphonse explained. “Oh I'm so happy to know she's safe!”

“So you said she's been missing all night?” Riza questioned. Alphonse nodded his head.

“Yes! And all day yesterday too!”

Riza's mind began to turn. The Winry she had talked to a few moments ago had seemed perfectly fine, but yet here was Alphonse telling her that she had been missing for almost a whole day. Something wasn't adding up. Winry didn't seem like the type of girl that would go out without telling anyone their whereabouts. Something weird was going on. Riza turned to Alphonse.

“Come on Al. We need to talk with Winry and find out what's going on.”

“Okay.” Alphonse agreed uncertainly. Riza and Alphonse walked into the room and halted in front of the door, staring at the scene in front of them. 

Winry was on her hands and knees on top of Roy, face inches from his face. Black claws sprouted from her hands, one striking the white gloves next to the bed. Her other hand was in a striking position over Roy's neck, black claws glistening in the light, ready to strike. Both Winry and Roy turned their eyes to the two people who had just walked into the door. Roy looked from Riza to Winry and then to Riza. “Hawkeye....this is EXACTLY what it looks like!” Roy shouted.

“Roy...” Riza whispered, voice shaking. “GET OFF OF HIM! ARRGGHH!!” Riza gasped as a black claw shot out from Winry's hand, impaling Riza's shoulder and pinning her to the hospital door. Riza clenched her teeth at the pain. Her other hand was clutching the claw, trying to pull it out in vain.

Winry held a finger to her lips. “Quiet now. This is a hospital.” She smirked evilly as Riza cried out in agony as the claw dug deeper into her.

“WINRY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” Alphonse called angrily. 

Winry narrowed her eyes in annoyance at the intruders, growling slightly. “ Looks like we have to cut our date short, Mustang.” She turned back to him, face malicious and yearning for revenge. She held up her claws. “Time to say good bye!” She raised her hand up to strike his neck.

“NOOO!!” Riza screamed. Despite her pain, she pulled out a pistol with her left hand and fired. The bullet rang true and buried itself in Winry's forehead, knocking her off Mustang and to the ground. Riza collapsed to the floor as the claw retracted from her shoulder.

“NO! WINRY!” Alphonse screamed, running towards her. He fell to his knees as he saw her form crumpled on the floor next to Mustang's bed. He turned to Riza angrily. “How could you!?”

“Alphonse no! That's not Winry!” Riza yelled as she ran to help Roy get out of his bed. Roy quickly grabbed his gloves, pulling them on. 

“Hawkeye's right. She's dangerous Alphonse!” Roy said, arms posed for battle. Alphonse ignored them and knelt down next to Winry, holding her in his arms. 

“Winry?” Alphonse whimpered sadly. He jumped slightly as Winry eye's popped open quickly, violent eyes blazing in fury. She quickly shot her hand up, claws slashing against Alphonse's armor, knocking him across the room and into Havoc's bed. Both Havoc and Alphonse fell to the floor on the other side of the bed.. 

Winry stood up, surveying the people in the room, an amused smile on her lips. Riza, Roy, and Alphonse gasped as the bullet hole in her forehead began to heal itself, becoming solid flesh once more. She turned an intense gaze to Riza.

“I'm surprised Hawkeye. I wasn't expecting you to be so willing to shoot.” She flipped her blonde hair, smirking. “I guess you care more about Mustang than I thought.”

Riza cocked her gun. “WHO ARE YOU!?”

“And where's Winry!?” Alphonse added, standing back up from his fall.

“Can't you recognize me?” Winry asked, tilting her head at the suit of armor, smiling sweetly at him. “I am Winry.”

“Cut the crap! There's no way that you could be Winry!” Roy shouted.

Winry looked at each person, a thoughtful expression on her face. She finally gave a weary sigh. “Well....” She remarked, violet eye's glistening. “I guess the jig is up.”

In a blink of an eye, Winry shot her claws out towards Roy who stood frozen in shock. Riza quickly knocked him down, both of them falling to the floor. Winry jumped up on the bed, looking down on them with contempt. 

“Tell me? Who else would go through all this trouble to have Mustang dead?”

Roy glared at her from the floor, clutching his burned side in pain. “Actually there's quite a few people. I'm a pretty popular person.”

Winry narrowed her eyes dangerously. “ How funny. Let me give you a hint.” She wiggled her fingers watching as each finger stretched into a dangerous black claw, smiling with amusement at the looks of horror on the trio's faces. “All three of you were present for my demise under the hands of Colonel Mustang.”

It hit them all at once...

“LUST?!”

“Bingo.” Lust answered.

Roy struggled to get up, wincing at his injuries. “But...but how? I killed you!” He yelled.

“You thought you killed me.” Lust corrected him. She claws becoming hands once more. “I'm immortal remember? You may of burned my body, but with the Philosopher's Stone my soul could still be rebuilt. All I needed was a new body and well...” She spread her arms out wide, giving a spin. “You've seen the result!”

Everyone turned towards the sound of clanging metal. They saw Alphonse's body shaking in anger, his fists clenched together tightly. “You mean to tell me...” Alphonse choked out. “You stole Winry's body so you could come back to life!?”

Lust gave him a look of indifference. “What's the big deal? Isn't that the same thing you did? Put your soul into a different body?”

“That's not the same!!! I didn't steal a body that already had a soul in it!!!”

“Well this one doesn't either. Winry's soul is long gone .” She smiled wickedly. “This body is all mine now.”

“YOU'RE A MONSTER!” Riza yelled out, abandoning her attempts to help Roy up and looking up at Lust with pure hatred. She pointed her pistol at Lust, who stared boredly back at it.

“Wow I'm sooo scared.” She gave a small chuckle. “When will you learn your little guns don't work on me?” She held up her hands, which transformed into deadly, black claws once again. “Let me show you how a real woman fights!”

Lust pointed her hand out, claws about to strike at Riza. However she wasn't expecting the 200 pound suit of armor to ram into her.

“Leave them alone!” Alphonse yelled, grabbing on to Winry's small frame. Alphonse's body collided with the door, knocking it off it's hinges as him and Lust crashed into the hospital hallway. Doctors and patients screamed in fright and scurried away from the scene. 

Lust struggled against Alphonse's tight embrace. “Let go! You useless chunk of metal!”

“No! Not until you tell me where Winry is!” Lust rolled her eyes, struggling increasing. “Are you an idiot? I just told you she's gone! Two souls can't coexist in the same body together. Your little friend is finished!”

“You're lying! I can't believe you!” He held on tighter. “I WONT' BELIEVE YOU!”

 

Riza helped the Colonel up none too gently, and whisked him towards Havoc's bed. Havoc laid sprawled on the floor, still completely knocked out. Riza pushed Roy down next to him, on the other side of bed. 

“What are you doing Lieutenant!?” Roy asked, angry at being manhandled like that.

“You stay here and try to get Havoc awake. When you do, you and him get out of here at once.” Riza ordered. “I have to go drive her off!” Before Roy could argue, she ran out the door. Roy stared at her angrily.

“HAWKEYE WAIT! I demand you to....” Roy's ordered faded away when he realized that no one was listening. Roy glared down at Havoc. “Well if Riza won't listen to me, at least you will.” Lifting him up by his shirt, Roy started to slap Jean's face.

“Wake up soldier! That's an order!” Jean's eye's fluttered open. He rubbed his head, groaning sorely. 

“What the hell, Roy? Oww!” He looked around him, eye's widening when he noticed they were sitting on the floor. “Uhhh what's going on here?”

Roy was peering over the side of the bed, eyes narrowing as he tried to see what was going on in the hallway. “We've got a problem Lt.”

“What kind of problem”

Roy sighed. “To make a long story short. Lust came back to life and is now using Winry's body.” Roy glanced at Havoc's stunned face. “Got it?”

“No fucking way!” Havoc exclaimed in shock. “ Lust is back?! I bet she wants to kill me!”

“Actually she's here to kill me.” Roy corrected him. Havoc glowered at him.

“WHAT THE HELL MUSTANG!? Why is it that every girlfriend I have instantly goes after you!”

Roy stared at him stupidly. “ You're kidding right?! This is serious Havoc! We're in mortal danger here!” Roy turned back to his spying. “Plus I thought you were over her!”

“That's not the point!”

The two stopped their quarreling when they heard a series of loud noises coming from the hallway, signaling a battle was going on. Havoc turned to Roy. “Okay so now what? Do we just sit here and do nothing?”

Roy closed his eyes angrily, fists shaking. “I'm afraid we have no choice. Riza's orders were to wake you up and get out of here, but by the sounds of it, there's no way I could carry you and myself out without getting into the mists of the battle.”

Havoc grinned. “Oh taking orders from Riza now? I see who's dominate in the relationship....Ow!” Jean flinched as Roy popped him on the head.

“Shut it Havoc!”

“ Okay! Okay! Look you're the Flame Alchemist right? Why can't you just go out there and barbeque her again?”

Roy glared at him. “DON'T YOU THINK I THOUGHT OF THAT!?” Roy yelled. He motioned to their hospital room. “I can't do flame alchemy in here! This is a hospital! Do you know how many flammable things there are just in our room! I could have this place ablazed in seconds!”

Jean sweat dropped. “Oh right.”

“We're pretty much useless right now.” Roy muttered.

Jean clapped Roy's back. “Relax boss, Riza will get us out of this jam.”

Roy's eyes stared at the door. “I hope so.”

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Riza ran out into the hall to find Alphonse struggling to hold a powerful Lust. She cocked her gun, aiming at the homunculus. “Hold her still Alphonse! I'm going to shoot!”

Lust stopped struggling and an annoyed look crossing her face. “Not this again! That's it!” Lust gave a loud whistle. From a broom closet down the hall came a loud boom as Gluttony knocked down the door and ran straight for Alphonse.

“Ahhhh!” Alphonse yelled as the giant homunculus rammed into him. Lust flew out of his arms and landed several feet away. Gluttony trotted up next to her, a pleased smile on his face.

Riza's eyes widened. “Not him again!”

Lust smiled down at her companion. “It really was fair to fight two against one, so I thought I'll even the odds.” Lust patted Gluttony on the head. “Gluttony go ahead and eat anyone you come across in the hospital.”

“WHAT?!” Riza and Alphonse gasped.

Gluttony smiled gleefully, clapping his hands together. “Yes! Yes! Me hungry! I go eat!” With that Gluttony jogged away.

“You can't do that! This hospital full of sick patients!” Alphonse yelled out.

“Well you better go after him then.” Lust sneered. 

“Uh..” Alphonse looked from Lust to Riza to the direction Gluttony went. Riza glared at him. 

“Go after him Alphonse! Don't worry about me!” Riza ordered sternly.

“But Hawkeye...”

Riza gave him a small smile. “I'll be fine. I can handle her. I'm not the same person I was in the last battle.” Alphonse nodded his head.

“Okay. Good luck.” He then ran in Gluttony's direction.

Riza turned her attention to Lust who was watching with violent eyes. “Those are bold words Lt. Hawkeye. If I remember correctly you weren't so hot the first time we battled together.”

Riza cocked her gun. “Things are different now. I've learned my lesson. As long as they're people I need to protect I won't give up on life.”

“We'll see about that.” Lust commented. “By the time I'm done with you, you'll be begging for death.”

“Bring it on whore.” Riza replied.

Lust narrowed her eyes, claws extending. “Bitch.”

And the battle began. Lust threw her claws toward Hawkeye, who dodged to the left quickly, ducking down as Lust's other hand shot towards her. Riza shot her pistol at Lust's legs, trying to get her to fall to the ground. However, Lust's legs healed as soon as the bullets hit her skin and Lust barely tumbled from the impact. 

Riza's eye's widened when Lust began running towards her. In a blink of an eye, she rolled to the side, barely missing having her head completely cut off. Lust turned angrily, and started hissing as bullets began to rain down on her. One bullet hitting her left eye, blinding her for a second. Then another hitting her right. Blinking away blurriness, Lust tried to will herself to heal faster. She knew what that little bird was up to. If she couldn't kill her, she was going to try to make Lust as useless as possible, by shooting at her vital parts like her eyes, to damage her vision.

Well it's not going to work, Lust thought smugly. Already, her vision was healing and she could make out the blurry image of a figure sneaking up on her from behind. Quickly turning, Lust shot out her claws. She heard a yelp of pain and smiled in triumph.

Her eyes finally healed, Lust took a good look at Riza who she had once again pinned against the wall, claws impaling her right forearm and left shoulder. Lust grinned, savoring the sight. Riza struggled in vain, teeth clenched up in agony. Her brown eyes glared at Lust with pure hatred.

“You know that was a very rude thing of you to do.” Lust commented. “Shooting me in the eyes like that. Almost seems a little unfair.” 

“And you call this fair.?!” Riza hissed, claws digging deeper into her.

“That's besides the point Hawkeye. My eye's are very precious to me. They're the only part of my old body that I still have left. You should understand, the eyes are the key to a person's soul. After all, your name implies your special gift comes from your keen eyesight.” Lust violet eyes twinkled maliciously at her. “ Let's see how special you would be without your little bird-like eyes.” 

Riza's eye's filled with fear as two black claws aimed right towards her head. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for death....

But the pain never came. Opening one eye, Riza saw to her disbelief that Lust had stopped her attack midway, her claws stopping inches a way from her face. Looking up, Riza was startled to see not angry violet eye's glaring at her, but huge, scared blue eyes.

“The eye's are the key to a person's soul' Riza remembered Lust saying. “Winry?” She asked, gently.

Tears filled Winry's eyes and she shook her head, pained etched all over her face as she tried to talk. “Lt...Hawkeye...I....won't....let...her...kill...you...” Tears flowed down her face. “I...was..so...scared....”

“Winry listen! It's going to be okay! Stay with me!” Riza struggled to free her arms from the claws, so she could help the poor girl. Winry began to shake and Riza watched in horror as Winry yelled out in pain and she instantly realized that Lust was trying to take control again. “Winry you can't give up! You have to fight it!” Riza urged the poor girl.

“I....” Winry whispered. “can't..” Winry closed her eyes and in a second opened them up to reveal they had turned a violet color. 

“Now.” Lust sneered. “Where were we?”

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Do you see anything?! What's happening out there!?” Havoc asked,Roy, who had a better view of the hallway than he did. 

“I don't know! All I can hear is gunshots!” Roy hit his fists against the bed. “Dammit this is ridiculous! We are two grown men and here we are hiding under the bed like a couple of little boys! I'm going out there!” Roy shakily stood up, painfully taking one step after another. He had finally made it half way to the door, panting and exhausted when Havoc popped his head up over the bed, waving a pair of white gloves in the air.

“Hey Mustang! You forgot you gloves!”

Roy turned to him angrily, fire shooting out of his mouth. “AND YOU WAIT UNITL I'M HALFWAY ACROSS THE ROOM TO TELL ME!!”

“Sorry geez! Next time I'll let you go out without them!”

“I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!”

Their fighting ceased when they heard aRiza yelp out in pain. Forgetting his pain, Roy ran the rest of the way to the door and stealthily peered out into the hallway. To his dismay, he saw Riza being pinned against the wall by Lust.

“No!” Roy whispered.

Havoc craned his neck to see Roy at the doorway, face extremely pale. “Sir, what happened?”

“Riza's in trouble!” Roy replied. “Lust has her trapped.” 

“What's your plan?”

Roy's face scrunched up in thought. “My plan...” He narrowed his eyes and pointed his finger out the door. “IS TO GO AND SAVE HER!”

Havoc fell to the floor comically. “Great plan boss. Let me know how that works out for you.”

“Dammit Havoc! I can't use my alchemy and you're a cripple! If you have a better plan then let me hear it!”

“Now where were we?” Roy and Havoc heard Lust say. Roy stuck his head out the door quickly to see Lust about to stab Riza in the face. All sense left him and he began to run out the door.

“DON'T WORRY RIZA! I'M COMIN...” From behind him, the window in his room burst into millions of glass pieces as a ninja like person jumped in and knocked Roy out of the way. 

Running into hall, Lan Fan took out her kunai blades and cut off the claws that held Riza in place. Lust hissed in pain, backing away as her hands dissolved and healed themselves. Lan Fan stood in between Lust and Riza, blades ready to attack. Riza stood up shakily.

“Thank you. Who ever you are.” Riza said, weakly. “I owe you my life.” Lan Fan nodded, not taking her eyes away from the Homunculus.

Roy blinked in a daze at what happened. For a second, he was about to save Riza, until that ninja got to her first. His face reddened in embarrassment.

Havoc peeked over the bed at him. “Wow! Did you see that?! It was a ninja!”

“I saw!” Roy grumbled as he walked back to sit down next to him. Havoc patted his back. “It's okay boss. You tried!”

“Shut up Havoc.”  
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Lust glared angrily at her new opponent. “And who are you suppose to be?”

Lan Fan pointed her kunai blade at Lust. “Is it true you are immortal?”

Lust blinked, taken aback by the strange question. She gave a smug smirk. “Well I don't mean to brag but I have escaped the clutches of death many times.”

Lan Fan narrowed her eyes. “Well then I have no choice but to capture you and bring you to my master.” She got into a battle stance.

Lust looked at her with amusement. “Capture me? I don't think you realize who I am.”

“You are a homunculus! A being of many souls and the key to finding immortality and therefore the answer my highness is waiting for.” Lan Fan flew at her at full speed. “I shall not let him down!”

Lust narrowly dodged Lan Fan's kunai as she stabbed at her chest at a speed that seemed inhuman, even for a homunculus. Her hands quickly turned to blades and struck out at the ninja. Lan Fan dodged and cut the hand in half once again. However she hissed in pain as Lust's other hand sliced at her, cutting her side. Both girls jumped apart, glaring daggers at each other.

“You're a tough one. I'll give you that. But just like you, I have obligations to a man too. However I'm aiming to take away his mortality. And I'm not going to let a pipsqueak like you stop me!” Lust lunged, her claws ready for battle. Lan Fan jumped up, kunai blades shining. The battle was on.

Riza, who was quickly tying her wounds with a piece of her uniform to stop the bleeding, watched the battle with astonishment. The two women were going at each other with everything they had. Claws met blades and blades slashed against demonic claws, neither giving in. More than anything, Riza wondered who this ninja girl was. Riza's thoughts were interrupted by Lust falling down a few feet away from her, the homunculus' arm cut clean off. Riza was shocked to see actual fear in Lust's eyes as she waited for her arm to grow back. Lan Fan was making a move to attack her again. Riza saw Lust's eye's narrow and with one desperate move, she flung her claws up toward Lan Fan.

The ninja looked confused for a second, since the claws had missed her by a mile. However, it soon became clear what Lust was trying to do as the ceiling gave way and a piece of ceiling tile fell on top of the female warrior. 

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

“Come back here you!” Alphonse called out, trailing behind the giant homunculus.

Gluttony looked behind him, grinning as the giant suit of armor tried to catch up with him. “Me no stop! Me here to eat!”

He skidded to a halt as he came upon an open door. Sniffing through the crack, Gluttony could smell two children in the room. He licked his lips in anticipation. “Yummy children! Yum! Yum!” Gluttony barged into the room. The two children, a boy and girl, were sitting in their beds playing with toys. At the sight of the monster looking man, they both screamed in terror.

Alphonse heard the screams and quickly ran into the room, just as Gluttony was holding the little girl up by one leg, her body dangling over his open mouth.

“STOP! DON'T EAT HER!” Alphonse yelled.

Gluttony looked at him confusedly. “But me hungry? Why I can't eat?” 

“Because it's wrong! She's not food! She's a person!” Alphonse explained, trying to make the homunculus see reason. He hoped that if he could get him distracted enough, he would be able to grab the girl from him.

Gluttony lowered the child slightly, his thinking wheels turning. “People not food?” He lowered the girl even more. Alphonse gave a sigh of relief, thinking the homunculus was coming to his senses. However, Gluttony's eyes brightened as an idea struck him. “But people taste good. So that make them food!” With that Gluttony held the girl over his mouth again.

“WAIT!” Alphonse yelled. Gluttony looked at him annoyingly. Alphonse thought for a second. “Just because something tastes good, doesn't make it good for you to eat. For instance, when I was little my mother made me a big cake for my birthday. It was so good that I decided to eat all of it for myself while my friends were outside playing. Well because I did that I got really sick and I threw it all up. Now how do you know she won't make you really sick?”

Gluttony hands lowered all the way to the ground, his mind thinking again. The girl tried to crawl away but he still had a tight hold on her leg as he used his other hand to scratch his head thoughtfully. Finally his face brightened. 

“Girl will not make Gluttony throw up! Once Gluttony's food goes to belly it never comes out!” With that said, Gluttony popped the girl into his mouth. 

“NOOO!!!!!” Alphonse yelled, jumping on top of Gluttony' shoulders, much to the giant's dismay. Grabbing his jaws, Alphonse tried to pull his mouth apart. He could faintly hear the girl screaming in fright from inside. Grunting with the effort of keeping on top of the struggling Gluttony and trying to open his mouth, Alphonse finally managed to open it enough for the girl to slip out. She fell to the ground covered in drool and crying her eyes out.

“It's okay...I...got...him.” Alphonse tried to console the girl while still trying to fight the homunculus. Gluttony struggled to move the suit of armor from on top of him.

“Let Gluttony go! Me...still....HUNGRY!!!!” The two rolled over across the floor and Gluttony in a fit of rage rammed against Alphonse. The force of the two giants caused them to both crash into the window. Alphonse and Gluttony screamed as they both went flying down, landing in the bushes that grew along the walls of the hospital.

Alphonse tried to untangle himself from the branches, but found to his dismay theyr were stuck into the cracks of his armor, holding him in place. He turned to Gluttony who was in a predicament similar to his. Twigs and sticks clung to the fabric of the black suit the homunculus was wearing, making it difficult even for him to get free. The two glared at each other.

“Look what piece of metal has done! Me still hungry and with nothing to eat!”

“Big deal! Serves you right for trying to eat that girl!”

“Gluttony was hungry! And since you steal Gluttony's food, Gluttony eat you!” Gluttony stretched his neck out, trying in vain to chomp down on Alphonse who laid a couple feet away from him.

“Ohhh I'm sooo scared.” Alphonse mocked, resting his head on his hand. “Man I hope when I get my body back, I'm not as pathetic as you when I'm hungry.”

Gluttony stopped his chopping, head tilting in confusion. “ You no get hungry?”

Alphonse shook his head. “No. In this body, there's no need for me to eat. I don't feel hunger or anything for that matter.”

Gluttony looked at him strangely. “But me always hungry. Always needing food.”

Alphonse looked at him questioningly. “You mean you can't help it?”

Gluttony shook his head. Alphonse looked at Gluttony, wondering what it would feel like to live in a world where your constantly thriving for food, never feeling satisfied. He was surprised to find he was feeling a little empathy for the homunculus. 

“I wonder if maybe we're not so different, you and I. You live in a world where you're always hungry, and I live in a body where I never am.” He looked up at the sky. “ I wonder which one is the worst?”

A silenced followed this remark. Gluttony and Alphonse stared at each other for a moment, not sure of what to do. Alphonse looked at Gluttony, his voice uncertain.

“Gluttony...is Winry really gone?”

“Winry?” Gluttony repeated. “You mean Lust?”

“No! I mean Winry! They're not the same!!!” Alphonse replied angrily. Gluttony blinked at him, confused. Alphonse sighed sadly. “They're not....they can't be....”

“Gluttony!”

Both boys looked up to find Lust on top of the building, staring down at them. She called down at Gluttony once more, this time more sternly. “Come on! We need to leave.” With quick twist of her hand, her claws sliced through the bushes, freeing Gluttony. With inhuman ability, Gluttony climbed up the building and leaped up to Lust.

“Come. This party's getting a little too crowded for my liking.” Lust turned to away from the edge, walking out of Alphonse's line of vision.

“Hey! Wait! Winry please! Don't go! STOP!” Alphonse called out desperately, struggling to get free. “GLUTTONY!”

Gluttony took a moment to look back at Alphonse, his expression unreadable. He then continued to follow Lust.

Alphonse hung his head. “Oh Winry, I'm so sorry!”  
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Riza coughed violently as dust filled the air from the ceiling falling in. She strained her eyes to see through the dust. She felt the wall and tried make her way until she came to a door. 

“Hawkeye! Where are you?! Answer me!” She heard Roy call out.

She growled in frustration. “I thought I told you to get somewhere safe.” As the dust cleared, she made out the image of Roy stumbling toward her. 

He rolled his eyes at her, grimacing at his old injuries acting up. “Sorry for worrying about the life of my Lieutenant.”

Riza turned away from him. “There was no need to worry. I told you I would be fine. Only an idiot runs into battle when he is already injured!”

Roy sighed in defeat. “Right, right, I'm the idiot.” He turned his head side from side, looking. “So where is she hiding this time?”

“She's gone.”

Riza and Roy turned their heads in the direction of the voice. Lan Fan stood staring at the hole in the ceiling. “The ceiling was merely a distraction so she could escape.” She clenched her fists angrily. “I've failed my master.”

Roy walked up to her placing a hand on her shoulder. “Well you certainly didn't fail us. I'm not sure exactly where you came from, but we thank you for your help.”

Riza nodded. “Yes, we probably would of all been dead if it weren't for you. Thank you.”

“PLUS ROY WOULD OF MADE A FOOL OF HIMSELF IN FRONT OF EVERYONE!” Havoc called out from his room.

“Just wait Havoc. Just wait...let's see how many girls you'll get with your eyebrows are burned off.” Roy growled quietly, a vein popping up angrily.

The three stopped talking when they saw a suit of armor slowly walking down the hall towards them. Leaves and twigs stuck out of his armor in odd angles, making him looked like he a walking jungle. 

“Alphonse!” Riza called out.

“What happened to you?” Roy asked. Both Roy and Riza watched Alphonse in concern as he stopped in front of them. He remained silent staring at his feet. Roy and Riza glanced at each other. Riza took a step and placed a hand on his arm gently.

“Alphonse? Are you okay?” Riza asked, looking up at him.

Alphonse said nothing for a moment and out of no where fell to his knees, punching the floor with all his might. “IT'S NOT FAIR! WHY DID ANY OF THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN TO WINRY! WHAT DID SHE DO TO DESERVE ANY OF THIS!” Alphonse wailed out, whole body shaking. “ALL SHE WANTED WAS TO DO WAS HELP ME AND EDWARD! NOW'S SHE'S GONE AND IT'S ALL MY FAULT! IT'S ALL MY FAULT!” Riza and Roy stood in shock, not knowing how to handle the distraught child.

“She's not gone.” The two turned, surpriseD to hear Lan Fan speaking, who had remained quiet through their whole conversation. Lan Fan continued to stare at the ceiling, the place where Lust had escaped. “Winry's not gone yet. Throughout the whole battle I felt the presence of many souls in that body, but one soul had the strongest chi out of all of them.” She turned her gaze to Alphonse. “I believe that the soul I sensed was Winry's.”

A silence followed this statement. Everyone at a lost of what to do. Roy ran his hand through his hair, sighing wearily. “Okay so what's next?”

“Well...” They all turned to Alphonse, who was now sitting cross-legged on the ground, hands resting in his lap. “I think it's time we give my brother a call...”


	5. Edward!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edward contemplates memories of his past and decides to return to Central. However, how will he react to the new surprises awaiting him?

The countryside of Resembool darkened as the skies began to litter with black storm clouds. The sounds of rolling thunder send the villagers scurrying inside their warm homes. Mothers ushered their children inside, while fathers quickened home from work. Only one lone figure stood outside as the first drops of rain hit. 

Edward Elric rested his automail hand against the giant oak that stood on the hill overlooking his home. Well, what used to be his home. His golden eyes scanned the area, faintly seeing the outline of what used to be the base of the house. As lightning struck, an image of flames popped into his mind. Him and Al long ago had burned down their house as a reminder to them of the things they've done. A reminder that they would never turn back from their mission to bring back their bodies....

My house....why did you burn it down?” Edward's father, Hohenheim asked, staring at that the lone tree that was the only thing that remained from their property.

Edward glanced away from him, refusing to face his father. “Because we made up our minds that there was no turning back. We did it to show our resolve..”

“No you didn't.” Hohenheim interrupted calmly. “You didn't want to look at it.” Hohenheim took a step towards Edward, who was staring at him with wide eyes. “You wanted to escape from your unpleasant memories. You wanted to hide the traces of what you've committed.”

“YOU'RE WRONG!” Edward yelled.

“Just like a child, hiding the sheets when he wets his bed.” Edward's father looked down on him with cold eyes. “You ran away, Edward.”

Edward's stared his father with horror, that quickly turned to outrage. “What the hell do you know!?” He stomped away towards Pinako's house, calling over his shoulder to his father. “Damn you turn my stomach. You Bastard!”

He didn't see the saddened look that crossed his father's face as he watched his son leave.

That had been three days ago, but the young blonde couldn't get the thought out of his head, along with many others. So much had happened to him since his return to Resembool, hardly any of it good....

Another strike of lightning flashed in the sky and with it, a jolt of pain erupted in his shoulder. Edward hissed and leaned his back into the tree, trying to deaden the pain.

“Damn storm.” Edward muttered. One of the downsides of having dismembered limbs was the sharp sensitivity of changing air pressures which usually caused a great deal of pain to his stumps. “Guess I might as well head back to Granny's.”

Taking one last look at the crumble of burned wood, Edward stiffly made his way down the road.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Pinako glanced up from her photo album as the front door opened. Den wagged his tail and ran to greet Edward as he stomped into house, soaking wet and boots covered in mud. Pinako gave a sigh of relief and turned back to her album, muttering about 'filthy boys.'

“I'm home granny.” Edward called out, pulling off his red alchemy coat and hanging it up next to the door. He patted Den's head, walking into the kitchen.

Pinako barely moved form her spot at the table. However her voice had a disapproving tone in it. “You should know better than to be out in the rain like this. Half of you may be metal but your still human which means you can get sick.” She gave him a stern look. “Not only that, but the rain can make your limbs rust! That's two strikes against you boy!”

Edward rolled his eyes. “You worry too much, I'm fine.” Edward replied groggily, making his way to the cupboards to search for something to eat.

Pinako watched him carefully. “What were you even doing out there?”

Edward closed the cupboard, back facing the elderly woman. Den walked up to him, nudging his leg and whining. Edward laid his hand on his head, shushing him. “I went to see my house.” He said quietly.

“Your house? Why in the world would you go there?” Pinako asked, surprised. Edward knelt down next to Den, rubbing his neck. He shrugged his shoulders, nonchalantly. Not giving her an answer. 

Pinako gave a weary sigh, not evening trying to understand the mysterious boy. She looked down, flipping another page in her photo album. A picture of Edward, Alphonse, and Winry swimming in the river caught her eye. Alphonse had a huge grin on his face as he held up a huge, green frog up to the camera. In the background, Edward was pushing Winry on the tire swing that hung over the water. Pinako wasn't surprised to see Winry's gaze wasn't on the camera, but on the young boy pushing her.   
Pinako gave an amused smile. Even back then Winry only had eyes for Edward.

“Granny?” Pinako turned away from the picture to find Edward had snuck up behind her chair, staring at the picture also. His eye's looked troubled. “Do you think me and Alphonse are doing the right thing? I mean..” Edward tried to find the right words. “You...you don't think we're running away do you?”

The gray haired woman took a moment to refill her pipe. She watched as Edward pulled up a chair next to her, pulling the album towards him. He flipped through the pages distractedly.

“I believe you and Alphonse made a mistake and that you and him are doing all you can to fix it. You did wrong and you aren't denying it. Instead you're moving forward with your lives.” She puffed out a ring of smoke. “Running away is what people who give up do. Something you stubborn boys aren't very good at.”

Edward continued to flip through the pages, but Pinako could see his shoulders relax slightly and a shadow of a smile on his face. She tapped her pipe against the table thoughtfully.

“Which makes me wonder why you haven't made your way over to Central yet?” 

Edward looked up from the book, surprised. “Why do you ask granny?”

“Well usually you only stay here for couple of days to get your automail fixed. After that you're always itching to get back on the road.” She pointed her pipe at him. “What gives? It's not like Winry is here are anything.” Pinako took a sip of her tea, ignoring the fact a blush had creeped up on Edward's face. 

He determinately looked away from her, huffing. “What's that suppose to mean!?”

Pinako shrugged, replying calmly. “Oh nothing. Just people don't usually ask questions when you stay in town because they all think your here to visit Winry. I think they suspect you both are seeing each other.”

“PEOPLE SHOULD SHUT THEIR MOUTHS!” Edward yelled, red faced and banging his fist on the table.

“You can't blame them. Winry is a pretty girl.” Pinako remarked.

“She's not that pretty.” Edward muttered stubbornly.

Pinako sighed irritatedly. “Well whatever the reason you're staying here I would like you to tell me. I know you're not here to just give an old lady company.”

Edward frowned and looked down at the album. “I don't know, I guess I just wanted to rest up for a couple of days.”

“It's not really like you Edward, especially since you know Winry and Alphonse are waiting for you back in the city.” Edward remained silent, staring with blank eyes at the pictures in front of him. Pinako narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously.

“It's Alphonse isn't it?” Pinako remarked quietly. “You don't want to tell him about your mother.”

The hand that held the page of the album began to shake as Edward's mechanic hand clenched into a fist, his expression hidden as his bangs fell over his face. Pinako watched him with a knowing expression. Two nights ago after Hohenhiem had left the house, Edward and Pinako had went in the back and dug up the corpse they thought had been Trisha Elric. The experience had been grueling work and had emotionally drained Edward, especially at the discovery that the thing they had transmuted wasn't their mother. In fact, the body had been a male, not a female.

“Its..just...” Edward began, but stopped. Den whined and put his head on Edward's lap. Looking down, Edward began stroking the dog's head, a little bit calmer. “Its just hard.” Ed finally said. “Me and Alphonse worked so hard.” He glanced at his automail arm. “And lost so much to bring Trisha back and in the end, the thing we brought back wasn't even our mother.” Edward gave a weary sigh, hand pushing back his bangs. “It all seems like it was a waste. Like it was all for nothing.”

Pinako looked at Edward sadly. “Edward, your brother would want to know the truth. ” She took a look at the rain falling down. “ Besides it wasn't a waste. It reminded you how the dead really can't be brought back.”

“Yeah I know.” Edward replied, looking up at her. “ I just don't want to upset him.”

“I think your brother is more upset about not having you there with him.” Pinako remarked. “Besides, didn't you say that finding that body was a good thing? It meant that there's still a chance Alphonse's body is out there somewhere.”

Edward narrowed his eyes, looking down at the album again. A picture of Trisha holding a baby Alphonse stared back at him. Trisha's warm smile was looking down at Alphonse with love in her eyes, Alphonse tiny arms reaching out for her. “Yeah, it was a sign of hope.” Edward muttered.

RING!RING!RING!RING!

Pinako looked up in surprise. “Now who in the world could that be?” 

“I'll get it.” Edward grumbled, pushing back his chair.

Pinako took a look out the window, where rain could still be heard hammering against the glass. “I wouldn't bother. With this weather, I doubt the connection would be any good.” However Edward had already picked up the phone.

“Hello? Rockbell residence.” Edward asked in a bored tone. His eye's widened when he heard Al's voice on the other line.

“Edward? Oh thank goodness it's you! Something's terrible has happened!” Al announced extremely quickly.

“Uh Al, I can't really understand you. Can you talk slower?”

“Oh right! Well you need to come back to Central now! It's Winry! She's......” A loud clash of thunder boomed outside, making it hard for Edward to hear Alphonse voice.

“What about Winry?” Edward asked irritatedly, remembering Pinako's conversation earlier. Edward got further annoyed when the connection started disconnecting due to the furious weather. Pinako looked up in interest at the mention of her granddaughter.

“Winry... crazy.....evil.....hospital....Mustang....bad...come.....now!”

Edward rolled his eyes, not understanding a word of what he was saying. “Okay Al, I'm going to have to call you back. Bad connection over here. Bye.”

“Brother wait!” 

Edward hung up the phone, a look of disinterest on his face. Pinako stared up at him expectantly.

“Well what did Alphonse want?”

Edward shrugged his shoulders boredly, leaning against the wall. “Who knows....something about Winry being evil.....she must be on her period or something.” Edward ran his hands through his hair. “Either that or Al's making up weird stories to force me to go back.”

Pinako chuckled in amusement. “Sounds pretty bad.”

Edward began to walk out of the kitchen. “Well I guess I'll just have to find out what's going on myself.” 

“You're not going to call him back?” Pinako asked, turning to look at the retreating Edward. 

“Nope. I'm heading back to Central.” Edward announced, turning to her with a big grin. “I can't let Al deal with a hormonal Winry himself! That wrench of her's will tear him to pieces!” He dashed to his room, no question packing up all his belongings.

Pinako laughed merrily. Den walked over to her, tail wagging. She patted his head, muttering bemusedly. “What am I going to do with those three?” 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
Edward rested his head against the window, staring absentmindedly as the rolling countryside made way to bustling villages as the train made it's way closer to the city of Central. Despite his earlier hesitation, he was happy to be back on the road again. He made a promise to himself long ago that he would do whatever it took to get his brother his body back. No matter what, he had to keep moving forward. 

Pulling out his State Alchemist watch, Edward opened it up and looked at the engraving. Don't Forget 3. Oct. Edward closed it back up, tucking it safely in his pocket. “Don't worry Al. I haven't forgotten our promise. I just hope you're not too mad at me for staying gone so long.”

Above him, he heard the intercom announce that the train would be arriving in Central in thirty minutes, at exactly 9:00 pm. Fighting back a yawn, Edward laid his back on the seat, pulling his red hood over his face. 

Man, these three hour train rides just get longer and longer. Ed thought to himself. Or maybe it was because he was bored and had no one to talk to. Either way, he had thirty minutes to spare. He let his thoughts shift towards Alphonse's phone call.

“It's Winry! She's....” What about Winry? Though he had joked about it in front of Granny, those words left him feeling uncomfortable. Had something happened to Winry while he wasn't there? Edward mulled over this thought uncomfortably. 

Turning on his side and closing his eyes, he sighed wearily, letting his thoughts drift away. One memory resurfaced, the memory of his very first attempts of learning how to walk with his mechanical leg.

“Arrrggghhh!” Edward yelled, stumbling to the ground. Winry hurried to his side from across the yard, as he tried to stand up again.

“Edward! Are alright?!” Winry asked, concern lacing her voice. “ You shouldn't of gotten up yet! I told you I was going to get the crutches. You should of waited!” She bend down to help him, but he roughly pushed her back.

“I'm fine! Leave me alone! I can do this on my own!” Edward demanded stubbornly. “I don't need no damn crutches or you're help.” Winry took a step back, hands on her hips indignantly. Angry tears filled her eyes.”

“Fine! Do it by yourself! I don't care one bit!” Winry turned her back to him, crossing her arms over her chest crossly.

Edward turned away, using all his strength to stand back up. He balanced cautiously, his body still used to putting all his weight on his right foot. Wobbling slightly, he raised his left foot and took a careful step. Pain shot up his body, making him gasp for breath. Clutching his leg, he fell to the ground, moaning in agony.

Winry quickly turned around, eye's staring at him worriedly. She moved to walk towards him but stopped, when she saw him clench his teeth, and slowly get back up, his golden eye's blazing with fire.  
Winry watched, memorized as he repeated the process several times. Each time he fell, she felt her heart break a little bit more. “Edward.” She whispered, as he once again fell to the ground.

“DAMMIT!” Edward yelled, punching the grass with his fist. His eye's shut tightly as he felt the sting of angry tears forming. “Argh! WHY CAN'T I DO THIS!?” he asked desperately, punching the ground once again. 

“How am I suppose to get Al's body back when I can't even learn to walk on this STUPID LEG!” Edward continued to beat the ground, his frustration boiling over. He was about to punch it again, when he felt a hand gently grab his fist. He turned his head slightly, to see Winry kneeling next to him, her blue eye's staring at him kindly.

“Ed, you don't have to do this on your own.” Winry remarked, holding his hand in hers. “Everyone needs help sometimes. It's stupid to think you can do everything by yourself. I know you made a promise to help bring Alphonse's body back. But you won't ever do that if you can't learn to let people help you.” Edward watched with wary eyes, as tears started to fall from her eyes. “So please let me help you Ed! I can't stand seeing you get hurt!”

Winry watched him turn away from her, quickly rubbing his eyes with his hand. Sniffing, he nodded his head only giving a gruff. “Okay.” as an answer. Winry smiled brightly, helping Edward up into a standing position.

“Do you want me to go get the crutches?” Winry asked. Edward shook his head.

“I want to walk by myself.” He muttered stubbornly. Winry gave a weary sigh and then an idea popped into her head.

“Okay. Then how about you use me as a crutch?” Edward gave her an questioning look. “Just put her arm around me and we'll walk step by step together. If you feel like your about to fall, just lean on me and we'll try to balance you out.” Winry explained.

“Okay fine.” Edward said stiffly, putting his automail arm around her shoulders. Winry shifted until his arm was in a comfortable position.

“You ready?” She asked, glancing at Ed. His eye's looked slightly nervous as he nodded his head. “Okay let's take the first step.”

“ARRRGGGHH!” Edward yelled as pain shot through his leg once again. His arm tighten around Winry's neck, as the leg gave out. However, Winry's arm shot around his chest, holding him up. Edward, opened his eyes as the pain subsided a little and stole a glance at Winry. Though beads of sweat were forming on her face from the force of holding Ed's body weight, she still managed to give him a small smile.

“Don't worry Edward. I promise I won't ever let you fall.” She murmured to him. “We'll move forward together.” 

Despite the pain his body was going through, a warm glow seemed to flow threw his body at these words. So with Winry whispering encouragement to him, Edward began to take the first few steps to beginning his journey.

Edward's eyes fluttered open, as the train's bell tolled, signaling it's arrival to Central. He rubbed his eyes groggily, the dream still lingering in his mind. Why in the world would he think about that memory? Edward usually didn't like to dwell on old memories from his recovery, mostly because they usually involved a lot of pain. Grumbling to himself about killing granny for ruining his sleep, Edward sat up and glanced out the window as the train pulled into the station.

Since it was such a late time, the train station was mostly deserted as Edward walked off the train. Making his way out of the station, he followed the route he knew would take him to the military inn him and Al were staying at.

Walking down the side walk, Edward turned quickly when he heard a noise come from the alley next to the hotel. Arm transforming into a blade, he cautiously walked toward it. “Hello?” He called out, peering at the lines of garbage cans that lined the alley. “Anyone there?” He was met by the many glaring eyes of several cats, who crawled out behind garbage bins to inspect him.

Edward snorted irritatedly, his hand transforming back to normal. “Nothing but mangy old cats. I hope Al hasn't been feeding them again.” He grabbed his suitcase and walked up the steps to enter the building.

“Hey Al I'm home!” Ed called out tiredly, opening the door to their hotel room. The apartment remained silent.

“Al?” Ed asked scanning the room, finding it deserted. “Strange. It's so late out I thought him and Winry would be home.” Shrugging his shoulders, he made his way to the fridge, hoping to grab a snack.

Opening the fridge, Edward rummaged through the contents all the while contemplating about his earlier dream. Finding the room deserted had furthered his worry over what Alphonse had said or rather didn't say. Could something be terribly wrong? Could she be missing somewhere? Selecting a soda bottle, Edward slammed the fridge shut, knocking his head against it in frustration.

“Dammit! Why did Winry have to come with us in the first place!” Edward muttered, popping the cap off the soda. “All girls do is cause trouble!” With that said, Edward took a sip from his soda.

“Oh girls can't be all that bad, can they?” came a seductive voice. Edward spit out his soda, staring with stunned eyes at the girl in front of him. Winry had her head laying over the edge of the couch, smirking up at the stunned boy. “Winry?” Edward asked dubiously, wiping soda from his mouth.

“That's my name.” Winry replied, winking. 

Edward quickly bounded over to her, smirking. “Hey that's great you're okay, I was beginning to think something bad had happened to....” Edward stopped in his tracks, his face falling when he got a full look at the girl. “you.” Edward gaped at the girl in front of him. Winry laid on the couch wearing nothing but a pink cashmere lace underwear and a matching pink bra. 

Winry slowly got off the couch, making sure Edward got a good view of her bare backside as she stretched out her arms. “Oh no. As you can see...” Winry replied, smiling teasingly at his blushing face. “I'm perfectly fine.”

Edward's face turned a bright shade of red. “I...uh.urhg.” Winry giggled at Edward's stuttering, which only made his blush deepen. He angrily pointed a finger at her. “WHAT THE HELL WINRY!!!??”

“What? I thought you were happy to see me?” 

“I am...I mean I'm not...I...GRRR!!!! WHY THE HELL ARE YOU WEARING THAT!?”

Winry lazily ran her fingers across her body, all the while eying Edward's face. His reaction was priceless and she smiled coolly. "You have to forgive my attire. I'm afraid when you walked in..." Lust motioned with her hand towards the bedroom, staring at Edward with glittering blue eyes. "I was in the middle of changing clothes." She gave a light giggle. " Hope you don't mind."

Edward face turned a bright shade of pink and one eye gave a slight twitch. “Just put some damn clothes on would ya?! You look like a slut!" Edward yelled, throwing a his red cloak over her and adversely turning his back to her for privacy. He also did that so she wouldn't see his dark crimson face as he tried not to have a panic attack. “And don't take too long!” Edward yelled over his shoulders at her. “We need to talk about...”

WHAM!

“Agrh!” Edward yelled as a wrench whacked him on the back of the head. Despite Winry's appearance, Edward quickly turned around to face her, hand clutching his head angrily. “What the hell Winry?! That hurt!”

Winry's cool and playfully demeanor from before was now suddenly replaced by a red faced, angry one as she glared angrily at him. “GOOD! SERVES YOU RIGHT FOR CALLING ME A SLUT! YOU PIPSQUEAK!”

“WHO YOU CALLIN A SHRIMP SO TINY THAT HE GETS REJECTED FOR THE SALAD BAR??!!!” Edward yelled, waving his arms wildly. “YOUR THE ONE WALKING AROUND IN YOUR BRA AND UNDERWEAR!”

Winry's face changed from anger to confused. “Bra and underwear?” She whispered, glancing down at her body. A look of horror crossed her face and she clutched Edwards cloak around her like a shield, face flushing redder than Edward's.

Edward looked at her in confusion. What was going on? Just a minute ago she was flaunting her body around like a peacock. Now she looks like she had no clue...  
WHAM!

“STOP STARING YOU PERVERT!” Winry yelled, face flushed in embarrassment.

“DAMMIT WINRY!” Edward yelled, an imprint of a wrench showing oh his bruised face. “ I wasn't staring!”

“Just get out!” Winry yelled.

“Hold up! I...” Edward began.

“I SAID GET OUT!” Winry hollered, banishing her wrench like a deadly sword. Edward quickly ran to the bedroom, shutting the door quickly behind him. He was just in time, for the next second he heard a loud bang as the wrench knocked against the wooden door. Edward took a moment to catch his breath, his eyes wide and disbelieving at the events that just took place. Slowly he sank into the bed, his hands running through his blond hair feverishly. “What the hell just happened?”

Well Edward lets take a look......

Flashback

Earlier that day after the confrontation with Roy Mustang, Lust had found herself in a slightly overwhelming situation. Due to the annoying interference from both Riza Hawkeye and Lan Fan, she had failed in her mission to kill Mustang and get her sweet revenge. Despite her mighty power, the duo had proven to be a greater threat than she could of imagined and the battle had left her tired and of need of a place to rest to plan her next move.

Going back to Father's lair would not be an option, not when her comrades had already shown disapproval of her want for revenge against Mustang. That left her with no place to go. Thinking, she finally figured the best option was to go to a place where all her new body's needs were. Which proved to be the hotel room where Winry, Alphonse, and Edward had been staying. Leaving Gluttony to keep watch outside the building, Lust made her way to the apartment using some of Winry's old memories as a guide. Originally she had only wanted to rest up for a bit and change clothes. However that all changed when Lust took a look at Winry's suitcase....

“Is there nothing in here that makes me look like a complete grease monkey!?” Lust yelled into the mirror, ripping up another outfit. “This chick should really get her head out of the garage and actually do a little shopping!” Standing in just her underwear and bra, Lust was quite prepared to just leave and rob a dress shop when she heard a tapping sound on the window. Walking over, Lust peered down to see Gluttony throwing small pebbles against the glass, trying to get her attention. He dropped them when he saw her face.

“Lust! Me saw the Fullmetal Alchemist! He went inside the building!”

“Fullmetal eh?” Lust muttered to herself. In a louder voice she replied, “Okay just wait there. I'll be out in a couple minutes.” She turned away from the window, thinking. “So Edward Elric is back in Central. I wonder how this will affect things?” At the sound of Edward's name, Lust felt a small twitch in her chest, almost like the name excited something in her. Lust narrowed her eyes. Could this be Winry's soul?

The sound of a door opening spooked Lust out of her thoughts. Stealthily, she made her way to the bedroom door, peering out. There stood the Fullmetal Alchemist, clad in his famous red alchemist cloak. His golden eye's were scanning the room, looking for it's inhabitants. Lust quickly ducked away from the door. The twitch in her chest was vibrating like crazy, as if trying to reach out towards the boy. Lust swallowed hard, keeping herself in control. “Feels like this pest has a thing for Fullmetal.” Suddenly an idea came to her. Her eye's darted to Edward, who was opening up the fridge. She tapped her chin. “I really shouldn't. Especially since he's suppose to be one of our sacrifices.” She watched as he bend over to look through the fridge, showing off a rather attractive ass. “On the other hand, it would give me a chance to find out how capable this body is in other activities.”  
With that being said, she quietly slipped into the main room. Slithering onto the couch and posing in the most 'come hither' position she could think of. Time to break this body in.

Of course that didn't quite go as planned due to the interference of a certain blonde mechanic who couldn't stand being called a slut......

Present

Back in the living room, Winry herself was having a panic attack. She clutched her chest, hands shaking as she held on to Edwards cloak. “How.....could....you...do...this!?” Winry choked out.

“My you're becoming kind the little bother aren't you?” Lust replied darkly. “ Listen little girl, I'm already pissed off at you for ruining my chances of killing the Hawkeye bitch. You better not do the same thing with the Fullmetal Alchemist.”

Winry's blue eye's widened in horror. “You're not going to kill him are you?!”

“Oh no. He's far too valuable for that.” Lust laughed. “I'm just going to have a little fun with him.”

A cold chill swept through Winry as the full impact of her words hit her. “YOU BETTER NOT TOUCH A SINGLE HAIR ON HIM!” Winry yelled out, her fist shaking with fury.

“Why do you care so much? It can't be that a little girl like you has a crush on a man like him?” Lust asked teasingly.

“NO! I just don't want you using my body like that!” Winry replied quickly, face blushing furiously.

“I think you're worried he'll actually fall for a real woman.”

“Real woman? You're using my body! If anything he's falling for me! Not you! ”

Lust rolled her eyes. “Oh please, like you could pull off any my moves. Face it, your body is merely a tool. What really counts is the person wielding that tool. And as you can see, I know exactly how to use it for it's full potential.”

Winry stuttered, too enraged to speak.

“Well look like it's getting late. All the little girls need to go to bed so the adults can play.” Lust sneered, beginning to take full control of Winry's body once more. However, Winry didn't go very easily.

“I'm...going...to....KILL YOU!” Winry protests died away as her eye's once again changed a violet color.

Lust gave an annoyed sigh, sitting herself on the couch with a huff. This Winry girl was really starting to get on her nerves. “How it it she is even still alive?!” Lust thought irritatedly. “My soul should of consumed her's by now, completely destroying it.” She tapped her fingers against her legs, pondering. “One body can't live off two souls, could it?” Lust rubbed her forehead, a headache beginning to form. Either way, Winry's soul was becoming quite the pain in the ass, taking control at the most critical of times and always extremely quickly. Always managing to catch her by surprise. She frowned slightly, allowing her fingers to stretch out into deadly daggers. “Well that's going to stop now. I won't let that little brat get the better of me.” Her deadly eyes, glanced towards the bedroom door, narrowing into slits. “One way or another I'm going to show her who's boss.”  
She tugged at the edges of Edward's cloak that draped her shoulders. “What kind of man actually tries to cover up a half naked chick.” A mischievous look appeared on her face. “So he wants me to wear his cloak. I'll wear it all right.....”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Okay Edward, calm down. This is Winry we're talking about. The girl that you've know since you were a baby, the girl who's your mechanic, the girl that's practically a sister to you!” An image of Winry standing in nothing but sexy lingerie filled his mind. “NO! NO! NO! THIS IS NOT HAPPENING! NOT NOW! NOT NOW!” Edward screamed, repeatedly banging his head with his fists.

Edward fell into the bed face first, groaning in agony.

First Pinako, then that stupid dream, and now this?! Is the world trying to torture him? Is there really a god out there just wanting to make him as uncomfortable as possible? Was Truth trying to push his buttons? Was everyone trying to make him spill out he had feelings for the blonde, blue eyed girl? Apparently so. Well everyone can just butt their heads out! Cause he was never EVER going to admit anything! As far as he was concerned Winry was nothing but a stupid, whiny, crybaby, gearhead! Nothing more! Noth....GOD DAMN IT! WHY CAN'T HE STOP THINKG ABOUT HER!!! 

He rolled over onto his back, his face staring at the ceiling. “ What am I going to do? Should I go out and apologize?” The thought of facing Winry once again sent a blush to his cheeks. “Why should I have to apologize anyway! It's her own damn fault for wearing nothing but....her....pink...lacy...pansies...”

“DAMMIT!!!” Edward growled, blood dripping from his nose. He started banging his head against the wooden head board of the bed, muttering multiple scientific equations under his breath.

“Ahem.”

Edward stopped banging his head, and turned in shock to see Winry standing in the bedroom doorway. Her body was leaning against the doorway in a tempting way, eying him with inviting eyes. Her hand held in place his red, travel cloak which draped across her body like a revealing bathrobe. Edward gaped at her, his mouth hanging slightly open.  
“Hey Edward, sorry I lost my temper back there.” She wove her fingers through her straw colored her in a suggestive manner. “ I guess you just bring out the bad side of me.” She gave him a devilish smile.

“Uh..uh...ehh.” Edward struggled to pick out syllables as he stared at with a dumbfounded look. His gaze wondered to the cloak she was wearing. He had gave her that cloak to cover herself up! Not to make her look more sexy! How in the world did she manage to do that?! How dare she use his cloak that way! He pointed at Winry with a shaking finger, face turning an angry red color.

“That...That's... not how you wear my cloak! Give it back!” Edward ordered agitatedly.

Winry shrugged her shoulders, letting the cloak fall slightly and revealing pale, creamy shoulders. “Well if you insist.” She purred, opening up the cloak wider. It was at that moment, as the first traces of breast began to show, that Edward realized something.

She wasn't wearing any clothes.

She was completely naked under his cloak...

Oh dear mother of God....

“WAIT! WAIT! NO! KEEP IT! KEEP THE CLOAK ON!” Edward yelled like a wild man, waving his arms around franticly.

Lust stopped the process of removing his cloak, her breast just barely beginning to show. She tossed her hair in an annoyed way, making a pouty face at the Edward. “ Oh Eddy. You have such the toughest time making up your mind.” She clutched the robe tightly, her tone becoming extremely playful. “So I'll do it for you!” With that said she let go of the red cloak and let it flutter to the ground.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!” Edward screamed, face-palming his face to the bed and rolling to the floor. He hit the floor with a loud thud, his whole body completely tangled in the bed sheets. Standing up with the sheets still covering him, Edward clapped his hands together and slammed them on the floor, blue light streaking from the floor towards Lust and to the girl's amazement a wooden door with Gothic designs transmuted in front of her. The door pushed her out of the room, slammed shut and locked itself with a loud click.  
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Lust stood in front of the door with a look of complete and utter disbelief. “Really?!” Lust shook her head in disgust, slapping her hand against her forehead. “How old is this boy?! Puberty really isn't what it used to be.”

Lust gave a loud sigh, holding up one long claw. “Sigh...I guess I just need to be a little more physical with him.”

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

On the other side of the roughly transmuted wooden door, Edward was sitting in a fetal position on the floor, sheets draped over him like protective blanket. His breathing was coming out shallow and uneven and his eyes had a crazed look in them. He ran his hands through his hair in a nervous manner, thinking out loud to himself in a feverish way.

“Al was right! Winry has gone nuts!? But why?! What could of happened to her?! Think Edward! Think! You're the youngest state alchemist in the world! You can solve alchemy equations in your sleep! Shit! I should be able to figure out a stupid girl!” He crossed his legs, fingers moving randomly as he began to mutter possible theories. “Okay so maybe Winry ate something that she's allergic to and this is all just a weird allergic reaction? No that's no good, she ate peanuts when we were four and all she did was turn purple. Okay Al mentioned something about Mustang so maybe him and her got into a fight and he fried some of her brain. Gah! That's just stupid! Winry would totally kick Colonel Bastard's ass! Come on!”

Unbeknownst to Ed, behind him one long claw was slicing it's way through the wooden door. It was slowly cutting away a large heart-shaped arch way for Lust to come through in.

Edward's golden eyes brightened as an idea popped up. “I've got it! What if Winry tried to make her own transmutation circle! She could of tried to perform alchemy so she could help me and Al out, so she made one and it transported her to the gate where she met Truth and he showed her the squiggly knowledge thingy and as part of the equivalent exchange Truth took all her common sense and dignity!” Edward held up his finger triumphantly, breathing fast after saying all that in one breath. For a moment, Edward beamed in glory until his head dropped down in a moping manner. “Oh wait I forgot. Winry thinks alchemy is stupid. She wouldn't do any of that. I'M SUCH A FAILURE!”

CRASH!

The wooden door tumbled over on top of the young alchemist, flattening him. “Oww....” Edward, squeaked out, stars circling his head. Lust stepped on top of the door, adding more weight to it and making Edward groan louder. She cocked her head down at him, smiling innocently.

“Whoops! Sorry Ed! I seemed to have accidentally broken your door.” Lust gave a girly giggle. “How silly of me.”

Edward crawled painfully out from under the door, glancing up at her with a slightly scared expression. “How....did...you...do that?!!!”

“Oh you know us mechanics! Always having tricks up our sleeves.” From behind her back, the claw returned into a regular finger shape.

“Yeah....right.” Edward muttered. He stood up and faced her, relieve washing over him that she had his cloak back on again. I'll never wear that cloak again. Edward gave a shaky sigh, standing up to Lust with as much dignity he could muster.

“Look Winry.” Edward began, eye's glaring at her. “I don't know what's going on here. But I'm willing......” He paused for a second, thinking. “....to let Alphonse deal with it! So go lie down or something until Al get's home!” He pointed out the door. “Go on! Shoo!”

Lust tilted her head, staring at him intently. Edward's finger wavered, not liking the look she was giving him one bit. 

“You know, lying down does sound like a good idea.” With inhuman speed she bounded over to Edward, face inches from his blushing one. “Let's get started!”

“What the....AHHHHH!!” Edward yelled out as Lust grabbed his arm and tossed him onto the couch in the main room. Edward gave a loud grunt, landing on his back. He lifted his head up, face red with fury.

“What the hell! Are you trying to....” Edward's complaints ceased suddenly as Lust pounced on top of him, legs spread out straddling his waist and hands pressing down roughly on his muscular chest. She stared down at him with a seductive grin. “kill me?” Edward finished weakly, a bead of sweat trailing down his face.

“Quite the contrary. I'm actually thinking of doing quite the opposite.” Lust purred into his ear, hands rubbing against his abs, making their way lower towards the top of his pants....

“Woah! Woah! Hol...hold..it Winry!” Edward squeaked sharply, his voice cracking and his hands grabbing her arms and holding them at bay. “Winry this is getting way too out of hand! I think we should....” his voice trailed away when his gaze lowered onto her barely concealed chest. “WINRY! YOU'RE STILL NOT WEARING ANY CLOTHES UNDER THERE?!!!”

“Nope.” Winry said, her finger flicking his blonde bangs playfully. She gave a small gasp of surprise as Edward hand's suddenly clasped her around the waist. “Becoming quite bold aren't you Fullmetal?” Winry teased. However, one look at his concentrated face made her think other wise. “What are you...?”

A sudden bright blue transmutation light radiated across the room. As the light faded, Winry sat up looking down in astonishment at her new wardrobe.  
Edward's red cloak that had covered her body, was now transmuted into a sexy two piece dress. The blood red top was resembled that of a bathing suit top, bare shouldered except for two strings that wove around her neck, keeping it in place. On each breast, the cloth held a flamel symbol mimicking the one that always flashed on Edward's back. The top part of the outfit barely went past her chest, revealing her creamy, pale stomach. Below that, the bottom part of the dress went down all the way to her ankles. However, the skirt held two long slits on each side that revealed almost of her legs, up to her waist. The back flap of the dress held a huge flamel symbol, identical to the one's on each of her breast.

Edward's shaking hands withdrew from her waist, his mouth twitching awkwardly as he took in what he had created from his cloak. He had only wanted to make some clothing for her to make her a little less......intimidating. But as he looked at her clad in what use to be his cloak and now was....was....this! He realized he might of made things worse for himself.

“Edward what the hell did you just do?”

“Ummmm..” Edward started, sweat pouring off him. “Making you...some clothes?”

“Tell me Edward.” Lust whispered crawling on her hands and knees up Edward's chest, his face becoming more and more flustered as she came nearer, her eyes screaming desire at him. “ Did it help any?”

She already knew the answer, by the slight budge she could feel penetrating his pants. He let his head fall in a defeated manner. “No.” he moaned pathetically.  
She snaked her arms around his neck, pushing his face towards hers. “So now that we're done playing your silly games let's get on to business.” She lowered her head, lips ready to devour him.

“Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Beryllium, Boron, Carbon, Nitrogen.....”

Lust peeked open her eyes, stopping her kiss midway. Fury swelled up inside her when she saw Edwards red face determinedly turned away from her, muttering the elements of the periodic table frantically. A vein popped on her forehead and she yanked Edward up by his shirt, teeth becoming pointed fangs. “THAT IS IT! I am done playing games with you Fullmetal!” Edwards eye's widened in horror as she brought his face inches from hers, her eye's burning with uncontrollable fire. “Me and you are going to have sex. RIGHT! NOW!!”

Edward struggled against her vice like grip, hands pushing against her chest to desperately stop her animal like advances. “Winry! This is moving way too fast! I can't!” Edward protests were weakening as he tried to keep her hands at bay from his vital areas. “We're too young! Think about what people would say!”

“Frankly Edward I just don't give a damn!” Lust hissed, throwing herself at Edward, who began to desperately crawl back in hopes of escaping. He yelped as his hand slipped off the small couch making him tumble to the ground, Winry following. The two fell into a tangle of limbs, with Edward landing on top of Lust, in a compromising position.

“Mmhhmm Me like.” Lust purred. Edwards eye's widened when he realized his hands had landed on top of both of Lust's boobs.

“Ahhh!”Edward yelped, overturning and making them roll over again, knocking down the coffee table in the process. Once again Lust made her way on top. At first a look of relief past over Edward until he realized he was back in the same dilemma he was in before. “Dammit.” Edward muttered, hitting the floor with his fist.

“Not the brightest boy are you?” Lust laughed leaning down towards Edward's face.

“Hey Winry! I found you!”

Both Edward and Lust quickly turned to the window, where Ling sat smiling brightly at them. “Once again I, future emperor of Xing, have accomplished my goal! I'm just that great!” He blinked, just noticing Edward. “Oh Edward! You're here too! What a coincidence! Wait....” Ling's eye's took in the disheveled room and Winry lying on top of a blushing Edward. An amused grin spread across face. “OH HO HO EDWARD!”

“SHUT UP LING! It's not what it looks like!” Edward yelled, his blushing redder than ever before. Ling held up his hand solemnly.

“No need Edward! Alphonse has explained everything to me already.”

Both Lust and Edward gave him bewildered looks. “He has?”

“Yes! And I approved 100%! However may I make a few little suggestions?” Before they could answer, Ling dashed towards them. “ Now when fondling a woman, a gentlemen must have his hands in just the right position to make sure all the chi runs smoothly.” Ling grabbed Edward's automail arm and placed it around Lust's neck. “Now put that one there....” He then grabbed Ed's other arm and placed it on her lower back. He stepped back, frowning slightly, and pushed the hand farther and farther down, until it rested lightly on Lust's butt cheek. “There!” Ling exclaimed, patting Lust's butt proudly. “That should do it! Let the love making begin!”

“GET OUT OF HERE!!!!!!!” Edward and Lust both screamed, kicking the prince out the door.

Dusting off her hands, Lust turned away from the door, smiling. “Now where we...” She blinked blankly, finding the room absent of the alchemist. “Where did that baby run off to now?”

“Looks like your womanly charms aren't as good as you thought they were.” came a smug voice in her head.

Lust stopped in her tracks. “Oh great don't tell me you can talk in my head now?!”

“Yes I can! And you better leave him alone!”

“Or what?

“Or...or...or..I'll give you the biggest migraine in the world!”

“Oh please, your boyfriend already has that covered. I swear he's as skittish as a rabbit but without the sex drive.”

“Maybe if you wouldn't act as horny as an alley cat in heat he wouldn't be so scared shitless!”

“Or maybe he's just scared shitless of your ugly face!”

“Well guess what? My ugly face is now your face bitch!”

“I swear if I could I would strangle the living day lights out of you!”

“Winry?” Lusts eyes widened as Edward's head poked out from his hiding place in the main room closet. Edward was looking at her with an expression of utmost confusion, his mouth hanging slightly open. Lust realized how crazy she must of looked, bickering to an invisible person.

“I am so confused.” Edward said in a dazed voice. In a flash, Lust had him pinned against the wall, both hands resting firmly on his chest to keep him still. He struggled weakly as her hungry gaze swept over him 

“Things don't have to be so confusing Edward.” She murmured into his ear. “Let's just forget everything and let our bodies take over.....”  
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

“I can't believe we lost her.” Alphonse moaned, his voice filled with worry. Him, Roy, Riza, and Lan Fan were making their way up the stairs to Alphonse and Edward's hotel room to have a meeting and to maybe look for some clues of how Winry got captured in the first place. “What if something bad happens to her?”

Roy Mustang snorted irritatedly, limping along side the suit of armor. “Please Alphonse. As we observed today, she's pretty capable of taking care of herself. We should be more worried about any citizens that happen to cross paths with her.”

“But she's still Winry! She would never hurt anyone!”

The Colonel gestured towards Lt. Hawkeye and Lan Fan, both of whom all had bandages around the various stab wounds received from the fight with the female homunculus. “Well?”

Alphonse fidgeted with his hands, at a lost for words. “But Winry...”

Roy rubbed his forehead tiredly. “Look Alphonse. I know Winry is special to you and Fullmetal. But you have to realize that...OUCH!!! Watch it Lieutenant!” Roy yelled, as Riza accidentally bumped his shoulder as she walked past.

“My apologies sir. However I have to remind you, you shouldn't even be out of the hospital in the first place.” Riza said sternly.

“How do you expect me to sit still when there's another monster loose in the city. Lust has made this into a personal affair!” Roy stated angrily, fist hitting the palm of his hand for emphasis. 

“Your just still upset because she managed to seduce you.” Riza remarked dryly.

“SHE DID NOT SEDUCE ME!!!”

“ Whatever you say sir.”

“I don't think I like your tone Lieutenant .”

“Ling?!” Alphonse asked, cutting off their bickering. As they came up to their floor, Alphonse had spotted the young prince sitting cross-legged in front of their hotel room. Ling held up a hand in greeting, smiling happily at the group. 

“Why hello Alphonse! Lan Fan! It's so good to see you!” Lan Fan bounded over to her prince, giving him a deep bow. Alphonse and the group walked up to him.

“Uhh Ling why are you sitting outside our door?”.

“Oh Edward kicked me out!” Ling answered cheerfully. “You were right! He doesn't appreciate good advice!”

“Brothers back!?” Alphonse asked excitedly.

“Yep! And so is Winry!”

An horrified silence followed this statement as the group realized the danger that Edward was in. Roy pushed his way to the front of the group to take charge. “Hurry! There's no time to lose! We need to get in there!”

Roy froze when the prince stepped in front of him, blocking the door way. He wagged his finger in front of Roy's face, smiling. “Ah aw aww! I wouldn't go in there if I were you!”

“Why not!?” Mustang asked crossly.

“Well let's see....Edward and Winry are doing what people from my country would call 'putting the eel through the waterfall'.” After receiving blank looks from everyone in the group except Lan Fan, Ling tried another tactic. “Okay then. They are....as you would say here in Amestris......having the sexual intercourse.”

“WHAT!!!!!!?????”

“We have to save him!” Alphonse screamed.

“Stand back!” Roy ordered, kicking down the door. The whole group ran into the room, leaving the two foreigners outside. Ling cocked his head.

“Well looks like no one in this country listens to good advice.”

“Brother!” Alphonse yelled, barging into the room. He was followed by Mustang, who had his fingers at the ready for attack and Hawkeye who held out her gun, cocked and ready to fire. All three of their eyes widen at the sight of Lust and Edward leaning against the wall and faces inches apart. Not only that, but they gawked at her new dress, that looked like a sexified version of Edward's red jacket.

“Well....that's different.” Roy remarked, quirking an eyebrow at the costume change.

Ling stuck is head out from behind the trio, face filled with joy. “Don't they look just adorable!?”

“Brother?” Alphonse asked uncertainly.

Lust shot an livid glare their way. “Not them again!” she hissed. 

At the sight of his brother, Edward exploded with fury.“ALPHONSE! WHAT TOOK SO DAMN LONG TO GET HERE!?” His gaze glanced towards Mustang and Hawkeyes. “AND WHAT ARE THEY DOING HERE?!”

With incredible speed. Lust knocked a stunned Edward to the side, and leaped towards the group at the door. Instinctively they scattered out of her way, all except for a stunned Roy Mustang who she landed right in front of. Roy's face filled with fear at the sight of violet eyes blazing up at him. However to his surprise, all she did was lean up and give him a small kiss on the cheek. Winking, Lust just as quickly jumped away from him onto the open window. She waved a hand in farewell, blowing a kiss in Mustang's direction. “Until we meet again, Mustang.” Then she jumped, disappearing into the night.

Roy pointed a finger towards the window, barking out orders. “Riza take the window! See if you can locate her! Alphonse! Edward! We'll head out onto the streets! See if we can corner.....”

“AGRRRH!!!!!!”

“Uh?” Roy turned just in time to see a flash of blonde colored hair ram into him and tackle him onto the floor, strangling the living day lights out of him. Edward's face was contorted with rage, his eye's nothing but angry white orbs as he pounded Colonel. “FULLMETAL WHAT HELL ARE YOU DOING!???” Roy gagged, holding up his hands to block out the alchemist's attacks.

“YOU DIRTY, PERVERTED BASTARD!” Edward roared, fist flying. Alphonse tried to dislodge his brother but to no prevail.

“Brother stop it! You don't understand!”

“I UNDERSTAND JUST FINE! THIS COLONEL BASTARD IS FOOLING AROUND WITH WINRY!”

“Cease this at once Fullmetal! I have to go after her before she gets away!” Roy shot out, trying to reason with him. It did the opposite effect...

“I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!” Edward yelled, going at him with full force  
.  
“Brother please!”

“SHUT IT AL! DO SOMETHING USEFUL LIKE GRABBING HIS GLOVES!”

“I already did!” Ling exclaimed joyfully, waving the gloves in the air. “Number one rule of courtship is never let another man take your woman! Don't worry Ed I have your back!”  
“How did you...?” Roy's question was cut off by another punch to the face. 

All in all the room was a complete disaster area. Edward and Roy were duking it out on the floor and Alphonse hovered over them trying to resolve the situation peacefully. Ling stood cheering the fight on, while beside him Lan Fan was trying on the Flame Alchemist's gloves, admiring them on her small hands. Riza stood in the door way, staring at the scene with total disgust.

“THAT'S ENOUGH!” She yelled, shooting bullets across the room. When the dust cleared, all the inhabitants stood frozen in place, eye's wide in fright and bullet holes surrounding them. 

The first one to recover was Edward. He stood up, breathing heavily from his fight. His whole body shook with pent up fury as he glared at every person in the room. When he spoke, he spoke in a deadly voice. “What the hell is going on here?!”

Thirty minutes later, Alphonse, Riza, and Roy found themselves squeezed onto the couch together, with an angry Edward standing over them, scrutinizing them with his intense golden stare. Alphonse fidgeted in his seat, the furious waves radiating off his brother making him nervous. Roy, who sat in the middle of the two, hardly seemed bothered by the boy. He was too busy clutching an ice pack to his aching head and sending his own death glares back. On his left sat Riza, who tapped her fingers on the arm rest, waiting patiently for Edward to make his move.

Edward's golden eyes bore into each one of them, like a parent about to reprimand his children for not following the rules while he was away. He uncrossed his arms and stiffly sat down in the chair across from them. The only thing separating them from Edwards wrath was a small coffee table.

“Okay.” Edward began, setting his elbows down on the table and leaning in closer. “ Start explaining.”

Roy opened his mouth to speak. “Well....” He was cut off by Edward pointing his finger at him sharply.

“Not you.” Edward growled. His gaze traveled to his brother. “Alphonse you start.”

“Oh okay..” Alphonse stuttered, already scared of his brother's reaction. He turned to Roy who nodded his head at him and Riza, who gave him an encouraging smile. Taking a deep breath, Alphonse began to explain. “Well I guess this all started about two nights ago....”

And with help from Riza and Roy, Alphonse explained about the events that had occurred in the last couple of days. Starting with Mustang's search for Mae's Hughes' killer and the appearance of Barry the Chomper's body that led them to the discovery of the Homunculus Lust. They explained about how they had battled and killed her. After this part of the story, the details became extremely sketchy since no one knew exactly how Winry came to be infused with the homunculus. However, Alphonse regrettably admitted he had let Winry go out to explore the city by herself. Riza and Roy then explained how she had shown up at the hospital in hopes of killing Mustang and getting revenge. That was when they had discovered to their horror that Winry was no longer Winry but the evil Lust who was using her body for her own evil purposes. The trio ended their story by explaining about how after the hospital ordeal, they had set out to track down Lust, which led them back to the hotel room. When the story was over, they all stared at Edward warily, waiting for his reaction.

Throughout the whole story, Edward had sat in silence. Head resting against his hands, he barely moved, his eye's staring at each person in turn as they spoke. As they finished their explanation, Edward let his eyes close. The group waited, holding their breaths. Finally, Edward stood up, pushing his chair aside. All eye's followed him as he walked over to the window that Lust at escaped through. For a moment all Ed did was stare out of it, seemingly ignoring everyone in the room.

Alphonse glanced at the other two on the couch, who both shrugged their shoulders, at a lost. Sighing inwardly, Alphonse decided to try to break the ice. “Ed?” He whispered softly.

Edward's eyes suddenly opened, golden pupils blazing with uncontrollable rage. “WHAT THE HELLL!!!!!!!” Edward roared, punching and shattering the window into a million pieces. Everyone in the room jumped in surprise and slightly frightened at the young boy's rage.

“FULLMETAL DON'T!” Roy yelled in a commanding tone.

Edward turned his blazing eyes towards them, teeth clenched up in anger. “How...the....hell...could..you...LET THAT HAPPEN!?” Edward's fist came down on the small coffee table, splitting it clean in half.

Alphonse stood up, hands held up defensively. “Brother! Please calm down! We're sorry!”

“Calm down?! You want me to CALM DOWN?! I LEAVE CENTRAL ONE WEEK! ONE FUCKIN WEEK AND ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE!!!” Edward snarled, stomping up to his brother, eyes glinting deadly. “How the hell do you expect me to calm down when some demonic monster is using Winry's body for who knows what?!” His mechanic finger thudded against Alphonse's chest painfully. “YOU WERE SUPPOSE TO LOOK AFTER HER!” At his statement, Alphonse fell to the couch, head falling into his hands shamefully.

Roy stood up, grabbing Edward by the shoulders and speaking sternly to him. “Fullmetal that's enough! This is no one's fault.”

Edward pushed his hand away roughly, eye's staring daggers at the Colonel. “SHUT UP! Don't think for a second I'm not still pissed off at you! If anything! You're the one responsible for all this shit!”

Roy narrowed his eye's at him, temper rising. “ME?! HOW IS ALL THIS MY FAULT!?”

“IF YOU WOULDN'T OF KILLED THE DAMN BITCH IN THE FIRST PLACE, SHE WOULDN'T OF NEEDED TO FIND A NEW BODY!”

“IF I HADN'T KILL HER LIVES COULD HAVE BEEN LOST!” Roy yelled angrily in Edward's face.

“Well thanks to you, one life has already been lost.” Edward sneered, golden eyes glaring hatefully at an equally enraged onyx eyes, the tension in the room becoming too intense to bare.

The enraged silence was interrupted by a loud slurping sound.

All eyes turned to the back of the room where Ling and Lan Fan sat eating an array of food that was set out on a small table in front of them. Ling looked up from his noodles, giving them a cheery smile.

“Oh please, don't mind us! Carry on with your conversation!”

“What. The. Hell. Are. You. Two. Doing?” Edward growled out. 

“What does it look like? We're eating!” Ling exclaimed, as if it was obvious. “Your story began to bore us, so we decided to just grab a bite to eat while you all dealt with the the dramatic stuff.” He received death glares from the four people in the main room. “What?!”

Edward clapped his hands together. A blue white light streaked across the floor, striking into Ling and Lan Fan's little food table. The table crumbled, and food went flying into both Ling and Lan Fan's faces.

“Well that wasn't very nice....” Ling commented, a bowl of noodles upturned on top of his head.

“GET OUT!” Edward yelled, kicking both him and Lan Fan out the door for the second time that night. Slamming the door shut, Edward made his way back into the main room and just stood there, not looking at anyone.

Silenced followed, no one wanting to make Edward snap again. Alphonse still had his face hidden, while Roy stood staring at Edward with an unreadable expression. Riza sat watching the whole thing with calculating eyes. Letting out a heavy sigh, Edward let his shoulders slump forward. He sat in his chair, all angry tension vanishing as he rubbed his face with his hands wearily. He glanced towards his somber brother, golden eye's softening.

“Hey Al listen. It wasn't your fault okay? I was just being an ass.” Al looked up at him, orb like eyes doubtful. Edward gave him a small smile. “If anything it's my fault. I should have been here to help you guys out.”

“Edward I...”

“Just forget it.” Edward said simply. “It's time to move forward.” His sharp eyes turned to Mustang, who was watching the brotherly exchange with an amused expression. “Okay what's the plan?”

Roy sighed, fingers intertwining together as he thought. “Well so far our goal has been to just track her down. It's been rather difficult due to the fact she now possesses a real human body, where makes it harder for people like Lan Fan to track down her chi. Now that she's escaped again, I'm afraid we're back to square one.” 

Edward narrowed his eyes, thinking. “What else can you tell me about this...what's her name...Lust?”

Before Roy could speak, Riza cut in, her eye's narrowing slightly. “She cold, ruthless, and extremely deceiving. She will stop at nothing to accomplish her goals and will go to any league to do so. Her greatest strength is using looks and charms to weaken the defenses of people....well mostly men.” She explained, eyes cutting toward Roy, who had a rather peeved look. “As of now we know her main objective is to kill Colonel Mustang for murdering her the night before. Any of her other motives are still unknown to us.”

“Is there any reason you know of that would of made her take Winry's body?” Edward asked, his voice cold.

Riza shook her head. “ Your guess is as good as mine.”

Edward nodded his head, taking a moment to digest this information. “Okay I got it.” Edward announced, smacking his fist into his hand.

“Really Brother?! Already?” Alphonse asked excitedly.

“Yep. And it'll be perfect for capturing her.” Edward said, grinning at his brother. 

“Hold it Fullmetal!” Roy ordered sternly, standing in between the two brothers. “Who said anything about capturing her? This thing is dangerous and has already tried to murder several people!”

“What are you saying Colonel?” Edward asked, his voice lowering dangerously. Alphonse took a step back, already knowing something bad was going to happen.  
Riza seemed to sense the same thing, for she put a hand on Roy's shoulder. “Colonel. Lets...”

“I'm saying Fullmetal, that our focus should be on destroying, not capturing her.” Roy said, ignoring his Lieutenant.

Edward exploded with furious rage. “THE HELL I AM! THAT THING IS STILL WINRY!”

“Oh no.” Alphonse muttered.

“Open you eyes Fullmetal! That thing may look like Winry but it's nothing but a monster that needs to be destroyed for good!” 

Lt. Hawkeye shook her head, rubbing her temples wearily.

“Her soul is still there dammit!” Edward yelled, poking his finger into Roy's chest threateningly. “A soul doesn't just disappear!!”

“One human body can not hold two souls you idiot! It's impossible!”

“Oh just like it's impossible for a soul to exist in a suit of armor!?”

“DAMMIT FULLMETAL! People will lose their lives against this monster!” Roy waved his arms around for good measure. Edward send him a death glare, puffing out his chest and standing on tip toes to get face to face with Roy.

“The only life I give a damn about right now is Winrys.”

Roy glared down at him with equal hatred. “As a soldier, one must learn to think of the lives of many more than the life of one. I'm sorry Edward, but if I see her again, my aim will be to kill.”

It happened in flash, before Al or Riza could stop it. The Fullmetal Alchemist rammed Roy into the nearest wall, arm transmuted into a blade and inches away from the Colonel's neck. 

“BROTHER! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Alphonse shouted, holding out his hands to stop his brother from stabbing Mustang in the throat.

Lt. Hawkeye took out her gun, aiming it right at Edward. “Fullmetal! Hands down!” She ordered.

The only one who seemed to be perfectly calm was Roy, who stared down at the young alchemist with cynical eyes.

“If you lay a hand on Winry I will personally stick this into your gut.” Edward growled, his voice deathly serious. His golden eye's blazed with a fire that left no room for arguments. He leaned in closer to Roy. “What if Lust had chosen someone you knew, someone special to you?” Edward's eye's cut towards Riza, would hadn't heard the comment.

So Fullmetal's going to play that game eh? Roy thought, eyes narrowing, clearly pissed at the direction this was going. What would he do if Lust had chosen Riza instead? The thought send a cold chill down his spine and he gave a annoyed sigh. “One chance, Fullmetal. That's all I'm giving you. After that, we do things my way. Got it?” Roy said, looking him straight in the eye. Edward took a step back, lowering his mechanic arm away from the Colonel's neck. Roy rubbed it, straightening his tie back up, as if nothing had happened. 

“Fine.” Edward said simply, his arm transmuting back to normal. A relieved sigh escaped the mouth of the two companions. Alphonse walked up to Edward, putting a encouraging hand on his should, while Riza walked up to Roy, her eyes searching.

“Sir?”

“I'm fine Lieutenant.” Roy answered curtly, his voice laced with annoyance. He glanced at Edward, who had a frown on his face as Alphonse whispered something to him, most likely words of disapproval.

“I don't know what you wish to accomplish, Fullmetal.” Roy remarked, eying the boy. “Once you capture Lust I doubt there will be anything that could be done to get Winry' soul back, even if it was still there.”

Alphonse looked up at him, startled. “But Lan Fan said she sensed her soul was still there!”

“Dammit Alphonse. You can't believe everything that some ninja from another country tells you! From what I saw, that girl was all Lust.”

“She's still there.” Riza remarked quietly. The three boys turned to her in surprise.

“What are you talking about Lieutenant?” Roy asked, his voice laced with shock.

Riza turned away from them, examining her gun. “During the fight with Lust, there was a moment where she had me pinned down and was about to do a killing blow.” Riza explained with no emotion, used to such near death experiences. “However, she stopped in the last second. When I looked at her, her eyes at turned blue and they looked scared.” At this point, Riza voice wavered as if the memory was painful for her. “Her voice had changed. It sounded more young, like Winry. She said she wouldn't let her kill me. If it wasn't for Winry, I would be dead now.”

A shocked silence filled the room. Alphonse cocked his head at her, questioning. “But Lt. Hawkeye, why didn't you say anything before?”  
Riza looked at him with a solemn expression. “I wasn't sure if Winry's soul was still alive after Lust took control of her body once more and I...I didn't want to get anyone's hopes up....not until I was sure.”

“You know...” Edward spoke quietly, almost like he was talking to himself. “When me and Lust were alone. There was a moment when she started arguing to herself. At first I thought Winry was just going crazy, but after finding this out, I think maybe she wasn't arguing with herself but with Winry.”

“Okay, okay! So Winry might still be alive.” Roy replied, his voice slightly irritated. “However that doesn't change the fact that WINRY isn't in control. Lust is. So that means she's still dangerous and needs to be stopped.” He glanced at Edward, crossing his arms impatiently. “So Fullmetal what did you have in mind?”

“Yeah brother what's your plan!?” Alphonse asked, looking down at his brother. 

A cocky grin appeared on Edward's solemn face and his eyes twinkled mischievously. He grinned up at Mustang, who in turn, gave him a mistrusting look.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” He asked, a slight nervousness in his voice.

“Oh nothing.” Edward remarked. “ So you said that her number one motive was to get revenge on you Mustang?”

Mustang didn't like where this was going. “Yeess.” he answered hesitantly. At the evil look that crossed Edward's face, Roy quickly yelled. “WHAT ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT FULLMETAL?!”

Edward crossed the room and looked out the window he had broken. For the first time since he had arrived back at Central he felt like he was in control once more and he smiled confidently. “I'll explain everything later, but for now, let's just say my plan involves live bait.”

At the end of Fullmetal's comment, every head, including Ling and La Fan's poking through the window, turned in unison toward Mustang.

The Colonel mutter one word under his breath.

“Fuck.”


	6. Talks and Gossips

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Winry meets some more of the Homunculi siblings. Meanwhile Edward and Mustang's Gang coordinate a plan to lure Lust to them. However, what is with these weird rumors spreading around....?

As the night wore on ,two figures could be seen creeping along the alleyways of Central. The tall slender figure of Lust was in the lead, keeping in the shadows, eyes peering around for any suspicious movement. The shorter, yet wider figure of Gluttony dutifully followed along side her, using his sense of smell rather than sight to detect intruders. The atmosphere was tense with apprehension, both figures knowing that stealth was of utmost importance. 

Unaware to them, another presence also tagged along with the duo. Deep down in Lust's chest, the small beat of a soul flickered nervously. Winry was still shaking from everything that had taken place in the last twenty-four hours. 

So much horror, so many moments that she had thought she was going to kill innocent people. Winry shuddered to think of what would of happened if she wasn't able to stop herself from killing Lt. Hawkeye. Just remembering that moment made her want to scream in frustration. How could she of been so weak?! She couldn't even take control of her body for a damn minute! And even when she was in control she couldn't bare the sensation of it. Winry could feel herself gagging at the memory of feeling Riza'a blood sliding donwn her claws....her claws?

Winry looked down at her hands, her eye's tearing up. “These hands were once used to heal people” Winry thought somberly to herself. “Now their nothing but weapons to kill.” 

Winry buried her face into her hands, a sob escaping her. “How could this have happened to me?!” Edward would have never let something like this happened to him. He was a stronger person than her. He would of never let anyone take such easy control of his body. “Not like me.” 

Winry slumped her head down against her knees, sighing. “I should of listened to Granny when she warned me against feeding stray animals.”

She turned her gaze towards the large homunculus that trudged next to her body. Even from the red vortex she dwelled in, she could still see the outside world through a different pair of eyes. She didn't really feel any hatred towards the creature. How could she? He had stolen her body for the sake of bringing back the person he loved. In a way, it reminded her a lot of Edward and Alphonse. Both had fallen apart by the death of their mother and had did whatever they could to bring her back. That had ended disastrously as well. 

“I guess I'm in the same boat as them now.” Winry thought bitterly. She had lost her body along with the two brothers. The only difference was that their bodies were taken to revive a person they had all loved, while Winry's was taken to revive...her. Anger bubbled up in Winry just thinking about vile thing that now inhabited her body.

Lust. Winry didn't know much about the alluring homunculus, only the facts that Alphonse had told her. However the more time she spend with Lust controlling her body, the more Winry was really beginning to hate her. Never in her life had Winry felt so much hatred for one person. The fact that she couldn't use her body anymore was worsened by the knowledge of how Lust was using it.

Winry shuddered, thinking about the Mustang incident. She had practically crawled all over him, exposing her cleavage, almost kissing him...Ahhh! How embarrassing! And Edward.....Winry clutched her face, moaning. She had practically gotten naked in front of him! And they were on the couch, lying on top of one another! It was like a nightmare....or dream come true....wait...what?

Winry felt her face heat up, images of last night flickering in her mind and her emotions swirling around like a tornado. On one hand, Winry was furious that Lust had been about to use her body to have sex and she was even more mad that she tried to have sex with not just anyone but Edward! Of all the people she could have sex with, she had to go after the one that she loved! 

However despite being enraged about the whole situation, a small part of Winry had been a little bit curious about how Edward would act about sexual advancements from her. Well technically it was Lust but to Edward it would seem like it was coming from Winry herself. 

It's not like Winry had ever thought of making sexual advances towards Edward. No! No! That wasn't it at all! But she would be lying to herself if she didn't admit she did have feelings for the young alchemist. And deep down she wanted to see how Edward would react to her. She wanted to see if he was attracted to her as much as she was attracted to him. 

So last night, even though she was furious with Lust and the whole situation, she still watched in silent fascination of how Lust used her body in a way she had never knew her body could be used. The slight sway of her hips and a flutter of her eyelashes had turned Edward....tough and quick-witted Edward....to nothing more than a stuttering, blushing fool. 

It fascinated her, this new discovery. In fact, if she didn't totally loathe the woman to no end, Winry would be begging Lust for some more tips. Though Winry knew how to look pretty and kept her body in good condition, she never really learned the trade of flirting to attract the opposite sex. Her life had always been filled with making automail and watching over the two Elric brothers. And it's not like she had any female role models to teach her. Her grandmother was way past her prime and her mother....well she was gone.

Winry felt a sinking feeling in her chest. Despite Lust going after Edward like a cat in heat, Edward had still rejected her, even ran away from her. Winry had blown it off, blaming Lust for scaring him away. But technically, since Lust was using Winry's body, didn't that mean he was really rejecting her? Winry felt tears prick her eyes, and she quickly wiped them away. 

So what if Edward didn't like her that way? He was still her friend and that's all that mattered...right? More tears swelled in her eyes, and her chest started to ache uncomfortably. Okay so rejection hurt...a lot. 

“It's not like I could do anything about it anyways.” Winry thought bitterly to herself. “Not when I'm stuck in here.” 

She sighed depressedly, looking to see what her two evil companions were up to. It they were still moving through the city, keeping to the shadows. “What are they doing?” An uneasy feeling stirred in Winry. What were their next plans? Was Lust going to continue trying to kill Mustang. Well no way was Winry going to sit here and let that happen.

“Hey Lust!” Winry called out. “Where are we going?”

Lust ignored her, walking in a steady pace. Winry made a frustrated noise, knowing Lust could hear her. “Hey Lust! I'm talking to you! Lust!” Again the silent treatment.

Winry felt her temper rising. “HELLO!? EARTH TO LUST!!!! LUUUUSSTTTTTT!!!!”

“What!?” Lust snapped scathingly. 

“Finally! What took you so long to answer?” Winry snapped back. She noticed that Lust was no longer talking out loud to her, but instead talking through her thoughts. Her violet eyes that had shown up the first time she had woken up now appeared again, staring at her. It was weird. It seemed like the longer they stayed together, the more easier it was to communicate with one another. At first it was like a barrier was blocking Winry's soul from Lust's making difficult to talk. Now they could talk using just their minds and at any point in time. Did this mean their souls were merging together, becoming one? Winry tried not to think about that unpleasant thought.

“Only crazy people answer back to the voices in your head.” Lust replied coolly. 

Rage bubbled up in Winry, all the events of the last two days making her reach her breaking point. “Are you kidding me?! Is that all I am to you?! Just a voice in your head!?” Winry yelled angrily. “I hate to break you little bubble but I'm not just a voice! I'm a human being! I have a soul! When you took my body you may of thought I would just simply die but I'm not and I never am! So you better just get used to this little voice in your head!”

“Has anyone ever told you how extremely obnoxious you are?” Lust commented dryly. Winry glared at her.

“If I'm so obnoxious why did you even want me as your body! Go find someone else!” 

Lust rolled her eyes. “Trust me I would. I didn't really have a say in it due to being dead in all. You should thank Gluttony for picking you out. If I had a choice, I would of definitely picked out a girl with a lot more baggage, if you know what I mean.” Lust's eyes narrowed humorously. “Though I can't say your body hasn't been of some use. It did get me closer to Roy Mustang.”

Worried clenched in Winry's gut. She looked up at Lust with concerned eyes. “We're not going after him again? Are we?”

“What do you think?” Lust sneered sarcastically.

“But why!? Why is it so important to kill him! Why can you just leave my friends alone!?” Winry cried, tears once again leaking out.

“Why? Why?! He's the reason I was dead in the first place! A life for a life. Equivalent exchange. Isn't that what your little boyfriend always talks about?” Lust said in a deadly voice.

Winry narrowed her eyes at her. “It's sound more like revenge to me.”

“Perhaps. It's all the same thing to me.” Lust replied indifferently.

“You don't have to do it you know.” Winry commented. “You can just forget about it. Just let it go. No one has to get hurt.”

“That's the difference between you and me.” Lust remarked. “You are merely a child, seeing things in child like point of view. You forgive and forget and go on with your merry way. Hate to break it to you, but that's not what happens in the real world. In the real world, you have to fight your way to the top and take down who ever steps in your way. Mustang has already beaten me once and I won't let it happen again!”

“But--” Winry began.

“Shhh!”

“Wha?”

“I said quiet girl!” Lust snapped, an edge to her voice.

Winry blinked, surprised by how edgy Lust had just sounded. She quickly focused back to the outside world. She could see Lust and Gluttony standing in battle stances, eying the shadows of the alley as if something was about to pop out. A sudden cold chill ran through Winry, making her shake with fright.

“Lust?” Winry whispered, her voice sounding shaky. “What's going on?”

Lust didn't answer, but her eyes narrowed towards the corner of the alley, where dark shadows layered the ground. Winry let out gasp as a small boy emerged from the darkness. Though the boy looked normal enough, even Winry could feel the dark aura that surrounded the boy, making it feel like evil itself was looking at you.

“Greetings Gluttony.” His eye's turned to Lust, his smiling growing. “Aww so this must be your new body Lust. I'm impressed. One would of thought a body that small wouldn't of survived the Philosopher stone.”

“Why are you here Pride?” Lust asked, getting straight to the point. Winry could feel that Lust felt uneasy around the small boy. Why? Weren't they all on the same side?

“How's the new body holding out?” The Pride asked, ignoring Lust's question. “I would hate to see that it's giving you trouble especially after all the work we went through to get it for you.” The boy stared at Lust intently. 

Those cold eye's seemed to stare past Lust and directly at Winry and she wondered if he could somehow see her soul still beating. The thought made her shake with fear. Lust seemed to be thinking the same thing.

“My new body is suiting me just fine.” Lust answered coldly, crossing her arms across her chest and standing to her full height. “And I don't believe my new body should concern any of you very much. As far as I know, Gluttony here was the only one who actually tried to find me one.” She turned a fond eye on her companion, who smiled at her in return.

Despite Lust's cruel nature, Winry was slightly impressed to see that Lust always seemed to stick up for her weird companion. Especially since she herself was a beauty compared to him.

“I wonder if there's a back story to that?” Winry wondered. She snapped out of her thoughts as Lust began to speak again.

“Did Father send you to stop me?” Lust asked, claws already beginning to expand. Pride quirked an eyebrow at her.

“Thinking of fighting me Lust?” He commented, almost boredly. “You already know I would win.”

Wait? Was Lust scared? Though she wore a battle face on, her violet eye's glinting dangerously, Winry could feel Lust's hands tremble slightly in what could only be fear. She is scared! But why? Winry took a good look at the young boy, her eye's curious. What sort of powers could he possess that could make even Lust wary of him? The more Winry experienced the world of the Homunculus, the more scared she was becoming.

“I don't want to fight you. Not unless you stand in my way.” Lust sneered, none of her fear evident in her voice.

Pride's smirk almost looked smugly. “Well it's a good thing I'm not here to stop you then. In fact, I merely came to give you a friendly warning.”

“A warning from who?” Lust asked, eyes narrowing slightly.

“Who else?” Pride replied. “Father of course. He advices you to stop with your quest to hunt down Mustang and to return home at once. That's it.”

Father? These creatures actually have parents?

Lust flipped her blonde hair back, looking annoyed. “Is that it?”

“Yep.” Pried stated, eye's shining maliciously.

Gluttony looked up at Lust, questioningly. “What we gonna do Lust?” Winry, from inside, also looked up at Lust, hoping that she would listen and stop her quest for bloodshed.

“I'm sorry but I have to decline.” Lust answered simply, turning her back to Pride. Gluttony hesitated, glancing at Pride's deadly expression before reluctantly following Lust.

Pride watched, his expression amused. “You know Father will not be happy with your disobedience.”

Lust didn't even turn to face him. “Isn't it past your bed time Selim?” She remarked blatantly.

The boy narrowed his eyes, expression dark. “Yes. I suppose it is. Be careful with that new body Lust. Playing with fire will surely get it burned and what a shame that would be.” With one last smirk, Selim disappeared into the shadows. 

Lust took one last glance at the spot where he disappeared and then continued on her way. “Gluttony, start sniffing for a spot to rest. In the morning will begin to track Mustang down.” Gluttony nodded, and jogged ahead, sniffing the air as he went. Lust stood alone with just her thoughts...and Winry.

“What are you doing?! Didn't you hear that boy...Pride...or who ever he is!? Your father wants you to stop! Shouldn't you listen to him!?” Winry yelled, frustration eating at her words.

“I think it's time for your bed time too, little girl.” Lust replied coldly. With that, she ignored Winry for the rest of the long night, her thoughts else where.

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

It wasn't unusual for Mustang's team to be called into work unexpectedly. Most of the team were used to it by now and only mumbled half-hearted complaints. However, when Roy's orders were to meet at the cabin, those complaints died to be replaced by a sense of urgency. The cabin was a small wooden building Mustang had bought many years ago. The old cabin laid outside the skirts of the city, in the middle of the forest that surrounded Central. It's location made it an ideal place for secret meetings that the Colonel felt should be kept away from the prying eyes of commanders in Central. The team knew that when Roy ordered them to meet there, it could only mean something really bad and really secret.

Kain Fuery and Heymans Breda were the first to arrive. As the two walked into the cabin, they were surprised to not only find Roy and Riza there patiently waiting, but also the two Elric brothers. Alphonse gave them a cheerfully greeting, waving a friendly hand. Edward said nothing, merely giving them a seething glare.

Breda and Fuery glanced at each other, Breda quirking an eyebrow at the weird behavior and Fuery furrowing his brow in concern. After a quick whispered conversation with Hawkeye, Roy walked towards them, his posture tense and his face grim. The two soldiers saluted smartly.

“I'm glad to see you two made it here quickly.” Roy said, skipping formalities.

Kain lowered his hand, looking up at the Colonel worriedly. “Sir? Shouldn't you still be in the hospital with Havoc?”  
“Perhaps. Lately I'm finding the hospital as safe as a place as I once thought. I'm sure you've heard by now about the attacks at the hospital.” Roy inquired. Both Breda and Feury nodded.

“Of course! It happened after I came by to give Riza her break. ” Fuery turned to Riza. “Did you see what happened?” 

Breda noticed the looked shared between Roy and Riza and sighed. “Let me guess? You two were right in the midst of the attack?”

“You can say that.” Roy answered, looking slightly uncomfortable. “However I'll explain about that later. Right now I want to discuss why I called you all in.” Roy signaled to Riza, who walked over and handed him a piece of paper. “Alright men, today our main objective will be to capture this person.” Roy held up the piece of paper, which turned out to be a black and white picture of a smiling Winry.

Both Breda and Fuery had the same surprised looks on their faces as they stared at the picture of the young girl. Fuery adjusted his glasses, peering more closely at the photograph. 

“But sir, isn't that....?”

“Colonel.” Edward's cold voice echoed in the small room. All eye's turned to Edward who leaned against the wall sullenly, his gaze burning into Mustang. “Can I have a word with you?” 

Everyone looked at Roy, who had the same disgruntled look on his face. “Fine, Fullmetal.” He turned his back to his subordinates, calling out his last directions over his shoulder. “Lt. Hawkeye will give out the case reports. Read them and then follow the instructions I've given you. I expect everything to be done by sunset!” Him and the Elric Brothers walked out the door, leaving the two with just Riza.

Breda turned to Riza, his dead-pan look slightly curious. “Hey Riza what was that all about?”

Fuery was still staring at the photograph of Winry, confusion written all over his face. “And what's all this about capturing Ms. Rockbell?”

Neither of their questions got answered as Riza quickly chucked a vanilla folder at both of the men's chests. “Just read the reports. I'll answer all your questions later today. I have to go now.” She left quickly, following in Roy's wake.

To her displeasure she found Roy and Edward nose to nose with each other, both fuming. Alphonse hovered around them, his hands held up in a calming gesture that had no effect on the two state alchemists. 

“Why the hell did you bring them here?” She heard Ed yell, pointing in her direction. 

Though Roy looked calm, she could tell he was about to reach his breaking point. “Fullmetal I don't think you understand just how dangerous your plan is. If something goes wrong, we're going to need back up.”

Edward gave a hollow laugh. “Back up?! Oh that's what it is!? Seems to me like your getting your troops together for the firing squad!”

“Brother please! I don't think the colonel would do something like that!” Alphonse persisted, trying to calm his raging brother. Edward ignored him, pointing a threatening finger at Roy. 

“Remember my promise Mustang! If you lay a hand on her I'll...!”

“I fully intend to keep my part of the deal Fullmetal.” Roy met Edward's furious glare without flinching, his posture commanding. “However since I hold such great part in your so called plan, I reserve rights to use whatever precautions I find necessary. Whether you choose to believe it or not I do have only your best interests at heart and part of that is making sure you and your brother are safe.”

Edward stared at him, not knowing how to respond. After several awkward seconds, he finally turned away and walked out the back door, slamming it in the process. Alphonse winced at the sound, but gave a sigh of relief that the argument ended so soon and with out his brother knocking someone out.

“I'm sorry about that.” Alphonse apologized. “He's just really worried that's all.” Roy held up a hand, stopping Al's apology. He gave the young boy a kind smile, clapping him on the back. 

“It's fine Alphonse. I understand. We all have our own ways in dealing with things.” He turned to the window where Edward could be seen sparring with himself, throwing punches and kicks through the air. “How about you go out with him for awhile. Keep an eye out for Lust.”

“You mean Winry?” Alphonse commented.

Roy's smile thinned slightly. “Yes...Winry too.”

Alphonse turned away, walking out silently. However, both Riza and Roy noticed his body hunched over slightly as he walked, similar to a small child trying to hide the fact he is crying as he walks away from his parents. Roy let out a heavy sigh, rubbing his temple.

Riza walked over quietly, careful to make her presence noticed. She stood next to him, watching the two Elric brothers through the window. She saw Alphonse walk up to Edward, who ceased his fighting for a moment, staring sullenly at his younger brother. After several moments of conversation between them, Edward's still had a frown on his face, but the dark look in his eyes had vanished. The two then got into a fighting stance, getting ready for a practice spar. However, neither brothers noticed the dark shape that was running towards them. Riza stiffened a chuckle as her dog, Black Hayate, pounced onto the older brother, making him fall to the ground and stream out a number of curses as the small dog licked his face. She could see Alphonse giggling in the background, clearly enjoying the scene. 

“Hard to believe sometimes that they're still just kids.” Riza started, forgetting for a moment that Roy was also watching the scene. Unlike her, though, his face held no smile. He stared through the window grimly. “They've been through so much, having to grow up quicker than most people that it's easy to forget their age.”

“Yes I suppose so sir.” Riza answered quietly.

“However it's moments like these that show their true colors. Look at Alphonse insisting on me calling Lust Winry. Though we've seen what Lust has did and what Lust is, they still cling on to that one hope, their one believe that some how their friend still lives. It's that childish hope that shows that the world has yet to take away their innocence.”

Riza's sharp eyes stared at Roy, who seemed to be lost in thought. “Sir...do you believe Fullmetal's plan will work?”

He blinked, refocusing on the two boys training outside. “ The little pipsqueak seems confident about it.” He murmured grudgingly.

“But what about you?” Riza pushed.

Roy unhooked his gaze away from the window and turned to her frowning. “As for me, I'm keeping my opinion to myself. I promised the kid a shot and I'm sticking by it whether I like it or not.”

She gave him a questioning look. “Sir, if you have doubts, why even give him a chance in the first place?”

Roy let out yet another tired sigh. Riza could see that just like Edward, Roy's walls were crumbling. “Dammit Riza I don't know! They've lost their parents, their bodies, and pretty much gave up their lives to become dogs of the military. Maybe I just want them to have a chance to save the one part of their life that is always there for them, always waiting.” Roy's gaze lingered over Riza for a moment, betraying a deeper meaning to his words. Riza felt her heart beat unnaturally fast and she wondered what compelled him to look at her in that way. “ If it doesn't work out, then...well that's life for you. But I don't want those boys to say that I never gave them a chance.”

He turned and made a move to walk away. A hand on his shoulder stopped him. Turning, he came face to face with the penetrating gaze of his Lieutenant. Despite her hard stare, her voice was gentle, laced with concern. “Roy have you thought of the possibility that Winry could still be alive?”

He gave her a hard look. “Of course I have!” Roy snapped, voice frustrated. “How could I not after what you and Fullmetal said.”

Riza blinked, her eyes solemn. “Then what are we going to do if that's the case?”

Roy turned his back to her, giving a hollow chuckle. “ Quite an interesting hostage case. An innocent soul trapped within the body of a monster. Not something I remember us going over over back at the Academy.” His onyx eyes took on a steely glint. “I stand by what I told Fullmetal. Even if Winry is still alive, as long as Lust has the upper hand she is a threat. I have a feeling that besides killing me, she has bigger plans in mind, one that could affect everyone.”

“Yes I know.” Riza agreed reluctantly.

“ We fight to protect the people, even at the expense of one soul. The law of equivalent exchange states one life cannot equal the lives of many. We do what we must to protect the one's we love, even if it means shedding blood.” He closed his eyes, his face seeming to age several years beyond his time. “Do you really think Winry would want to go on living knowing her body was being used for destruction?”

Riza glanced at the window, the two brothers now practicing sparring with each other. Despite their age , it was clear they were trained well by their well aimed punches and kicks and amazing dodging abilities. It was quite impressive. “I don't think the Elric brothers would see it like that sir.”

“Yes.” Roy muttered, turning away from the scene. “I didn't believe they would.”

A heavy silence filled the room. Both adults were contemplating about what tonight would hold. On one hand Lust would find them and they would take her down. On the other, Lust would appear and they would discover Winry was still alive inside her body. That lead to more options. Should they try to find a way to break her free and risk her living longer to set out her evil plans or should they just kill her, losing both Lust and Winry at the same time? Each option led down a hard road and led to heart ache. However, the third option and also the least likely, is that Edward's plan works and they find a way to break Lust's hold on Winry. 

Looking at the Elric brothers, who smiled and cracked witty comebacks to at each other as they sparred, it was no mystery how they predicted the night would turn out. The confidence that radiated off them and the determined looks in their eyes showed they believed in the impossible. They believed they could save their friend.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Okay I'm confused. Why am I doing this again?” Fuery asked, wiping sweat off his forehead as he looked up from the two wires he was hooking up.

Breda didn't even bother glancing up from the magazine he was reading. “What? Hooking up the radio? I thought it would be obvious. You are the techno geek of our team.”

Feury looked up from his work, shooting Breda an annoyed look. At the moment, the young soldier was trying to connect wires from the radio to the wires from several mikes that interconnected into the next room. Once he completed this task, the room opposite from them would be hacked so that anyone in that room could be heard in the room they were in through the radio.

“Not that! I meant I don't get why we're fighting Edward's friend Winry!” From behind his glasses, Kain's eyes had a look of sad confusion. “I mean she's always seemed like a really nice girl.”

“Well did you read the case report?” Breda asked, flipping the page in his magazine.

Fuery expertly twisted several copper wires together. “No not exactly. The Colonel hasn't really given me much of a break to sit down and read it.” He looked up at Breda curiously. “Did you?”

Throwing down his magazine, Breda grabbed the vanilla folder that held the case files in it. “Of course I did, Dumbass!” Flipping to the first page, Breda scanned the lines. “Okay it says right here 'Winry consumed by Lust and tried to kill Colonel Roy Mustang.' Huh...what you know?” Breda dropped the files on the table and grabbed a bag of chips to eat, ignoring Kain's horrified expression.

“What!? Tried to kill Roy?! No! No way!”

“Read it yourself!” Breda said, tossing it to him. Fuery caught it and quickly scanned the first page, his face growing pale.

“This can't be!” Fuery muttered to himself. “There has to be mistake!” His eyes fell on the quote that Breda read out. “Consumed by Lust? What is that suppose to mean?”

“Who knows? Riza typed it up so it's probably some sort of girl term.” Breda said, crumbles falling from his mouth.

Fuery stood up, dusting his pants off. “Look I really don't feel right about this. I'm going to talk to the Colonel and get the facts straight!” He gave Breda a questioning look. “Do you have any idea where he is?”

“I haven't seen him since this morning. He had me clear all the furniture out of the main room and stack it outside.” Breda groaned, bending over. “ Damn my backs going to be sore tomorrow!”

“Move all the furniture? Why'd he want you to do that?” 

“Do I look like a mind reader to you?! I learned long ago not to question the stuff Mustang does. It's a lot simpler that way and it keeps me from getting my backside burned!” 

“Well I still want to talk to him.” Fuery once again picked up the picture of Winry, frowning at the happy smile on her face. “I wonder if this is why Edward was so mad earlier?”

Breda stopped eating, his eye's also wondering to the picture. He snatched it out of Fuery's hands and stuffed it in his pocket. 

“Hey!” Fuery yelped in surprise. “What you do that for?!”

Breda looked him in the eye, face serious. “Look Fuery I know that look of yours and you can just drop it. The case report says she's our target. We're not suppose to question orders!”

“But she's just a young girl! How can such a sweet girl just snap like that!?” Fuery questioned, waving his arms for emphasis.

His friend shrugged, swallowing another chip. “That's woman for you. They'll stab you in the back as soon as you look the other way.”

“Breda this is serious!! Not all women are like that!”

“And this is coming from a guy who's last date was how long ago?” Breda asked sarcasticly.

“It's not my fault the military stole my personal life!!!!” Fuery defended himself, blushing a deep crimson. Breda snickered.

“So your saying you had a personal life before?”

“YOU'RE SO CRUEL!” 

The door behind them suddenly slammed open, Vato Falman striding into the room. Breda looked up from his snack, an annoyed on his face.

“Well look who decided to finally show up.” Breda drawled, eying Falman disdainfully.

“Yeah what took you so long to get here anyway?” Fuery asked, equally annoyed. He blinked in surprise at how distressed Falman looked. “Hey what's up with you?”

Valman hands shook as he pulled up a chair next to Breda at the wooden table. He shakily grabbed a potatoe chip out of the bag and lifted it to his lips. However, his hands were shaking so bad, the chip fell to the ground, crumbling to little pieces. 

Breda eye's followed the chip as it fell. “Dude, you're wasting my chips. What the hell is wrong with you?”

The tall, grey haired man licked his lips before giving them all piercing looks. “ You fools...Sitting here talking like you know everything. You idiots don't even know half the story!” He yelled, pointing a finger at the two men.

“Well of course, we only read the first page of the report.” Fuery explained simply, holding up the vanilla file. Valman jumped up, grabbing the report and tore it into little pieces. Feury's mouth dropped open in shock. “What are you doing Falman?!”

Falman looked at him like he was an idiot. “No! Don't you numbskulls even think about believing anything old Roy put in those reports!”

Fuery bit his nails fearfully, watching the little pieces of paper float to the ground. “Ohh! Riza's not going to be happy about that.”

Breda grabbed Falman by his shirt collar, shaking him slightly. “What the hell is wrong with you Falman!?” he asked once again. “Your not making any sense!”

The taller man pushed away from him, looking slightly ruffled. He looked around the room, making sure it was just them three. Then he motioned for them to come closer. Glancing warying at each other, Fuery and Breda got up and formed a tight circle around Falman.

“Okay what's up?” Fuery whispered, leaning his head in. 

“Not here.” Falman whispered urgently. He pointed under the table. “Under there! Now!” 

“You've got to be kidding me.” Breda commented dryly, watching Falman crawl under the wooden table like a five year old hiding from his parents. 

“Let's just get this over with.” Fuery sighed, also crawling under the table. The two men huddled under there, backs bend over and knees to their chest, looking up expectantly at Breda. Breda glared at them, arms crossed irritatedly. He finally gave a defeated sigh.

“I swear to god, this better be good.” Breda muttered, getting on his hands and knees and joining the two. After trying to get into a comfortable position and failing each time, Breda finally settled on just lying flat on his stomach so he had to look up at the two other men. “Okay Falman spill the beans. What did you hear?”

“Okay listen!” Falman began excitedly, like a school girl spilling the latest gossip. “This morning when I got the call from the Colonel, I was on my way here when I decided to stop by the hospital to do some investigating about the attack.”

“Investigating?” Breda asked skeptically. Falman sweat dropped, mouth twitching guiltily.

“Okay! So maybe I was just there to check on Havoc and give him flowers and a get well soon card....but anyway! What's important is that Jean gave me the scope of what's really going on here!”

“Whoa! No way!” Fuery gasped.

Breda gave him another skeptical look. “You're actually going to believe Havoc's report over Mustangs? That's just asking for a demotion.”

“No wait! Just trust me on this!” Falman said, holding his hands up defensively. “ When you hear what he told me you'll understand why Roy would want to keep it a secret!”

“Well come on! Tell us!” Fuery begged. “The suspense is killing me!”

“Okay here's the deal...” Falman began, ignoring Breda's annoyed look. “You guys have noticed how Roy and Edward have been at odds with each other all day right?”

“Yeah. So? They're always like that.” Breda commented matter-of-factly. “ They're not exactly the best of buddies around if you haven't noticed by now.”

Fuery rubbed his chin, his eye's calculating. “Come to think of it, they have been rather tenser with each other than usual today. Usually when they're mad, they'll still banter with each other, but besides this morning I don't think they've spoken one word to each other.” He looked up at Falman curiously. “But what's that have to do with anything?”

Falman looked like he was going to explode. “Guys! Don't you get it!? They're having a love feud!!!”  
The two men blinked at him, blankly.

“Between Roy and Ed?” Fuery asked awkwardly.

“No you idiots! Between Roy, Ed, and Winry!” Falman yelled exasperatedly. “The way Havoc explained it to me is that Roy has secretly been messing around with the Chief's girl.”

“Nah huh!”

“Mhmm!” Falman answered, smirking grimly. “And that's not all! Apparently Roy tried to break it off and she flipped out and tried to kill him! Right there in the hospital! Havoc saw the whole thing!”

“Wait! Wait! Wait!” Breda said, holding his hands up to stop the story. “Okay....so the Chief was dating that girl?”

Falman scratched his head thoughtfully. “Well...technically no....I guess?” He answered uncertainly.

“Well if they weren't then she was fair game.” Breda crossed his arms stubbornly. “I don't see anything wrong here.”

“Nothing wrong!? NOTHING WRONG?!” Fuery yelled, fists clenched up angrily. “What about the fact she's half his age and that her and Edward were meant to be together!”

“Here we go, the romantic speaks again!” Breda remarked, dripping with sarcasm. Fuery ignored him, his eye's filling with tears.

“No wonder Edward's so pissed off at the Colonel! How could Roy do such a hurtful thing to that poor boy! God dammit he's only thirteen-

“Sixteen.” Breda corrected flatly.

“Only Sixteen!” Fuery continued in a mournful voice. “A heart at that age is so delicate, so fragile! His poor little heart is probably broken into a million little pieces!”

“Are we talking about the same boy here?” Breda remarked

“That poor boy!” Falman agreed, also weeping. “Roy's just as big as a monster we always said he was behind his back!!!!”

Breda shook his head back in forth, rubbing the bridge of his nose frustratedly. “Okay guys, I admit that Roy did a bad thing and Ed's hurting because of it but what does that mean about tonight? I mean our orders are to capture Winry.” Breda reminded them.

“Well we can't go on with the plan, especially after hearing the truth. Roy's the monster, not Winry!” Fuery replied angrily.

“You know I bet the Chief knows that and is planning something also.” Falman commented.

“Edward probably thinks we're on Roy's side, since he was giving us those evil looks this morning. I say we show him that we have his full support!” Fuery proposed excitedly. Falman nodded, agreeing with him. However, Breda merely just watched them, his face disproving.

“Look guys, I can't say I agree with what Mustang did. But orders are orders and...” He was interrupted as by the sad puppy dog looks of Fuery and Falman.

“Come on Breda! You should know how it feels to have your heart broken at sixteen!” Fuery urged. Breda send him a death glare.

“Whats that's suppose to mean!” Breda snapped.

“Nothing!” Fuery quickly said, waving his hands around. “I just assumed...”

“Well you assumed wrong!” Breda snarled. “When I was sixteen my heart was perfectly fine! It was...it was...” Breda's lip started to quiver. “IT HURT SO BAD! OH WHY DID SHE LEAVE ME! ANNABELLE! WHY!?” Breda fell to his knees weeping. Fuery and Falman joined him, both also weeping the names of girls who broke their hearts. 

“CLAIR!”

“SHELBY!”

“SHALAUNDA!”

“K....wait....ShaLaunda?” Feury asked confusedly, glancing at Falman.

“Uhhh...never mind! Wrong girl!” Falman said quickly, a blush on his face.

Breda pushed the other two guys off him. Knocking the table out of the way, he stood up and held his fists in the air in a dramatic gesture. “Enough boohooing guys. We need to go show that little brat that we know what he's going through and we're here to help!”

“Yeah!” Fuery and Falman cheered.  
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Central Hospital:

Havoc clutched his side, still laughing at the shocked look on Falman's face as he raced out of the hotel room. Wiping tears from his eyes, Jean knew that Roy was going to give him hell for this later on, but oh the joy of starting rumors! Especially when Falman was so gullible! It's not like anyone would believe Falman anyway. I mean who was dumb enough to believe that Roy would actually hook up with a sixteen year old girl?

Still chuckling to himself, he lit his a cigarette up, relaxing as the nicotine took effect. He glanced at the empty bed beside him. It sure was different here now that Roy was gone. Peaceful and quiet....but different. 

He looked down at his useless legs, thinking that different sometimes wasn't that good. Well at least he got one good laugh in for the day. Sighing, he glanced at the window wondering if Roy was getting any closer to catching Lust. Despite everything that had happened, a small part of his heart still ached each time he thought of her. She had seemed so perfect!

“Figures all the good girls out there are also pure evil.” Havoc muttered, frowning. However, a smile lid his face as a pretty nurse came in, rolling in a lunch cart.

“Lunch time!” The nurse called cheerfully, giving Jean a pretty smile.

“Just in time! I was about to eat this cigarette here!” Jean joked. The nurse handed him his lunch tray, tsking.

“You know Jean that smoking isn't very healthy for you.” The nurse reprimanded gently. Jean rubbed the back of his neck, grinning sheepishly.

“Yeah I know. I've been trying to quit. Though it might be easier if I had a pretty lady to help remind me.” Jean answer flirtatiously. The nurse merely laughed kindly.

“Oh Jean you are too funny!” The nurse gave him another kind smile, beginning to wheel the cart away. 

“That wasn't a joke.” Jean muttered quietly. The nursed didn't seem to hear. Though before she left the room she turned back to Jean, her eyes curious.

“Oh Jean, me and the other nurses could hear you laughing from down the hall. Would you mind sharing the joke with us?” 

Jean chuckled humorously. “Oh it was nothing. Just a practical joke I played on my good buddy.”

“Nothing too bad I hope!” the nursed chided.

“Oh no! Nothing serious at all.” Jean answered good naturedly. If only he knew.....

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Outside the cabin, the sounds of grunts and groans could be heard as the the two Elric brothers sparred with one another. Black Hayate cocked his head to the side, eyes watching curiously as the two boys fought. All seemed well with them, the tension from the earlier confrontation with Mustang had evaporated as the boys spend some well earned quality time together.

However, despite what Roy and Riza thought of the confidence the two brothers held about tonight's plans, it seemed that they too had some doubts....well at least one of them.

“Hey Brother?” Alphonse asked, arms crossed together as Edward send a flurry of kicks his way. Al threw Ed off, who flipped and landed neatly on both feet.

“Yeah?” Ed grunted, ducking down to escape Al's round kick. 

“Do you think this idea will work?” Al asked hesitantly, holding his arms out in peace gesture. However, he quickly brought his hands back up as Edward continued the fight, jumping and kicking at Al's chest. The action resulted in the suit of armor falling on his bottom with a big “Omph!” Ed stood over him with an annoyed expression.

“Don't be an idiot Al. Of course it'll work! I did come up with it after all.”

Al chose not to comment on that last part. “But brother I...”

“Just shut up and concentrate on the fight.” Edward said, turning away from him.

“But Edward...”

A frustrated sigh escaped his lips. “Look Al. We already know that Lust is after Mustang. Something tells me she's not going to let a change of location stop her from finding him.”

“That's not what I'm worried about Ed!”

“Then what is it?” Rising anger relevant in his voice.

“What if Winry really is gone?” Alphonse whispered sadly. The anger in Edward's eyes was replaced by a steely glint, his face hardening. He turned his back to Al, making a show of stretching out his shoulders.

“That's just stupid. Of course Winry is still there.” From the corner of his vision, he watched Black Hayate pad up to Alphonse, who still sat cross-legged on the ground. The little dog look up curiously at the large body, tilting his head back quizzically. Alphonse patted him on his back gently. 

“But what if it's too late to save her?” Alphonse continued, “What if Lust is right and she really did consume Winry's soul?” Black Hayate whimpered slightly as Alphonse's hands began to tremble. “I...I talked with Gluttony and the way he talked it sounded like...” Edward could hear a his voice waver slightly, like he was trying to keep his voice level. “It sounded like Winry and Lust were one in the same. He said their was no difference between them!”

“Dammit Al! Of course they're not the same!” Edward stomped up to Al, making Black Hayate yelp and scurry away. “Lust is a monster! While Winry is....she's....” Edward's voice faltered as he tried to think of a word to describe their beautiful childhood friend. Edward flung his hands down angrily. “They're different okay! Why the hell would you even say something like that!?”

“You didn't see her brother! You didn't see the look in her eyes! Those weren't Winry's eyes!”

“So what now?! Your on the side of Colonel Bastard and his cronies!?” Edward yelled, eye's blazing. “ Your going just sit back and watch them kill her?!”

Alphonse bowed his head, muttering something along the lines of, “I can't.”

Edward pushed against his shoulders roughly. “What?! What can't you do!?” Alphonse stood up and began to walk towards the cabin. “Hey! I'm talking to you! Answer me!” Edward felt the his blood begin to boil as his brother ignored him and remained silent. 

“I SAID ANSWER ME DAMMIT!” Edward shouted, ramming into the back of Alphonse. The two tumbled to the ground, Ed grabbing his brother's head as he quickly rolled away from the rest of the his body.

“HEY!” Alphonse yelled angrily, feeling for his missing head.

“Are you going to answer my questions or am I going to have to play a game of fetch with Black Hayate here?” Edward sneered, twirling Alphonse's head around by it's long white hair piece.

Alphonse threw his hands down in a huff. “Argh! I can't talk to you when you're like this!”

“Well don't then! Cause so far everything that's came out of your mouth has been total crap!” At this last statement, Edward threw Al's head at him roughly and began to stomp towards the cabin. “Winry's alive and I'm going to prove it!”

Alphonse caught his head, but instead of putting it on, he stared at it in his hands.

“I can't loose her.”

Edward stopped in his tracks, listening.

Alphonse's voice shook, sobs racking his metal body. “We've already lost mom. Dad's gone and Mr. Hughes is dead because of us. And now Winry....”Alphonse clutched his head to in his hands, his whole body shaking with sadness. “IM SICK OF THIS! IT'S NOT FAIR! IT'S JUST NOT FAIR! WHY DOES EVERYONE WE CARE ABOUT GET TAKEN AWAY?!” Alphonse threw his head against a tree trunk, breaking it into several metal pieces. “I CAN'T DO IT! I CAN'T DEAL WITH LOSING ANOTHER PERSON, ESPECIALLY HER! ” Al's hands trembled, shoulders still shaking with silent sobs. “She cared so much about us...she loved us...and I...don't want to lose anyone else..” 

Silence followed, Al wasn't even sure if Edward had stayed to listen. He was too caught up in his self-sorrow to care. He didn't even budge as Black Hayate returned, giving Al's armor a sad lick.

“Al, there's something I have to tell you.” Al looked up to see his brother, standing a few feet away. His bangs hung over his face, slightly shadowing his forlorn expression. However Al could make out his golden eyes which look dull, the fire having dyed away in them. It worried his younger brother.

“Wha..what is it?” Al asked, not liking his brother's tone.

Edwards eyes' refused to look up at Al, instead focusing on the ground where bits of metal littered his feet. “ You...you didn't let Winry down. I did. I should have been here. The only reason I didn't return sooner was because I was a coward. I couldn't face you.” Edward gave a weary sigh. “Al...back in Resembool I dug up the thing we transmuted back when we were kids.”

What ever he was expecting Ed to say, that was the last thing. Alphonse jumped up quickly, shocked. “What?! But why!? Why would you do that?!”

“As a result I found out it wasn't Mom.” Ed answered quietly. Al stared at him.

“What are you talking about? You mean..”

“What we transmuted was something completely different.” Edward watched sadly as his brother's hand touched the spot on his chest where his heart should have been. Even without a head, he could see that Al was hurting.

“You mean after all that, after all that we went through...all we gave up....that thing wasn't even Mom?!” A sob escaped from Al. “ Why are you telling me this?! Why now!?” Alphonse choked out, his voice thick with emotion. 

Edward didn't answer right away, but instead knelt down and started picking up pieces of Alphonse's head. “I knew you would be upset. I didn't want to tell you, but after all this.. you need to know.” He turned, giving Al a hard look. “Digging up that body proves that the dead can't come back. It's impossible. The dead will always stay dead.” A sharp intake of breath from Al could be heard. Ed picked up a small screw, letting it roll around the palm of his hand. His golden gaze turned to his brother. “Which is why it's a good thing you and Winry aren't dead. Your body is still on the other side of the gate and Winry's body is still here. There's still a chance I can save both of you.”

“My body? You mean it's still out there?” Alphonse asked, shocked.

“I believe so.”

“A soul and a body existing separately from one another?” Al murmured thoughtfully. “Just like Barry's body!”

Ed nodded his head. “Exactly. I was able to pull your soul out and now I believe I can do the same thing with your body.”

“But Ed, how does any of this have to do with Winry?”

“Lust may have control of Winry's body, but that body still belongs to Winry. Her soul is still binded to it. As long as her body lives, so does her soul!” Ed explained, his hands clutching the screw tightly. “ I used the laws of equivalent exchange to separate your soul from your body. With Winry nothing was lost or gained. Lust took over and gained a new body but she didn't give anything in return. Winry is still there Al.”

Picking up the last piece, Ed set them in a neat pile in front of Al. Kneeling down, he clapped his hands, bending over the metal. In a flash, it transmuted back into its original form. He set it into Al's waiting hands. “I swear to you Al, no one else is going to die. I'm going to find a way to get both you and Winry's bodies back. That's a promise I refuse to break.”

Al set his head back on, looking down on his brother with concern. “Brother, that's a lot of promises to make.”

“Are you saying I'm lying?” Edward snapped, glaring at him.

“NO! It's just...your only one person Ed. You shouldn't have to bare all the responsibility on your own. I made mistakes too and I want to help fix them! We're in this together.” Al held out a fist to his brother. After a moment of hesitation, Edward reached over and bumped it, a small smile on his face.

“But Brother, can I ask you something?” Alphonse asked.

Edward blinked. “Yeah sure. What is it?”

Al took a deep breath before beginning. “Winry's always been there to help us, no matter what...Well now it's our turn to return the favor.” Al looked down at Ed, who was staring up at him questioningly. “Promise me Brother that you'll focus on getting Winry's body back first.”

A shocked looked crossed Edward's face. “Are you sure Al?” Edward asked, knowing the sacrifice Al was making. The longer he stayed in that body, the higher chance he had of his soul being rejected.

“I'm sure.” Al answered quickly. “Saving Winry is more important.” There were other reasons too. Alphonse could see the troubled look in Edward's eyes as he made the promise to save both his and Winry's bodies. Time was at the utmost importance for both cases, and Alphonse knew that Edward's inner self was having a tug of war to see which body won out. Should he save his brother or the girl he secretly liked first? Alphonse wanted to save Edward the burden of choosing between the two loves. By the grateful look in Edward's eyes, he could see that Edward appreciated what Alphonse did.

“Okay Al, I promise.” Determination radiated off him as he balled his automail hand into a fist. “I swear on my life I'll get her back.”

Alphonse stared, a deep respect for his older brother growing. No matter what, his brother never gave up on the people he cared about. This trait of his is the one that Al found the most admirable, though he would never say so out loud.

“Hey Al, do you think you could promise me something also?” Ed asked, breaking Alphonse away from his thoughts. Al quickly nodded his head.

“Of course! Anything Brother!”

“Don't ever break you head again.” Edward said in an annoyed voice. “It's a real pain in the ass to pick up all the pieces.”

Alphonse giggled, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. “Hehehe Sorry about that. I guess I do have a little of your temper after all!”

“Hey! My temper isn't that bad!” Edward yelled defensively. “You never see me banging my head against trees!”

“No but I've seen you break Winry's automail plenty of times!” Alphonse teased.

“Hmph! Yeah well I guess that's out of the question now since Winry's...you know.” Edward plopped down next to his brother on the grass, both their thoughts on the blue eyed mechanic.

“It's funny.” Alphonse pondered out loud. “It seems that all our worst fights seemed to be centered around Winry.”

“Yeah.” Edward agreed quietly. “Like the time we fought over who was going to marry her.”

“If I recall correctly I lost my temper back then too. I gave you one hell of a bloody nose!” Alphonse laughed. Edward shot him a murderous glare.

“I don't remember that!”

“Of course you don't! You didn't even remember the fight until I reminded you about it back at the hospital!”

“Yeah well then how did it end anyway!?” Ed asked with an air of indifference.

Alphonse smiled, seeing through his act. “She turned both of us down....something about her not liking guys shorter than her.” Alphonse watched in amusement as his brother's indifferent face turned to one of horror and outrage.

“WHAT!!!!???? HOW COULD SHE BE SO HEARTLESS!!!!???” Edward yelled in fury. Alphonse tried to stiffen his laugh.

“Hahaha! Oh Ed! We were just kids back then. I'm sure her feelings have changed since then.”

Ed gave him a pointed look. “What's that suppose to mean?”

 

“Oh nothing....” Alphonse teased, enjoying the pissed off look Edward was giving him. A peaceful silence followed with Ed still grumbling to himself about Winry. “Hey Ed?”

“Hm?” was Edward's sullen response.

“What were you and Winry doing in the hotel room before we showed up?”

Edward made a choking noise in the back of his throat, his eye's widening comically. Trying to keep his voice steady, he turned to Al, giving him a strained smile. “N..n...nothing! Nothing at all!” He gave false laugh, sweat pouring down his face. “Why do you ask?” he asked really fast.

“Oh well before we barged in, Ling said that you two...uh.....” Al trailed off, too embarrassed to finish.

A murderous look grossed Ed's face. “What. Did. Ling. Say!?” Edward growled out.

Seeing it was no use to hide it, Al finished his sentence....

“He said WHAT!?” A flurry of birds flew out of the trees and into the air, frightened by the angry roar of the young alchemist. “LING'S NOTHING BUT A LYING BASTARD! DON'T YOU EVER LISTEN TO A WORD THAT HE SAYS! EVER! I SWEAR THE NEXT TIME I SEE HIM I'LL STRANGLE THAT STUPID PRINCE BEFORE HE CAN EVEN YELL OUT THE WORD IMMORTAL!!!” A series of disdainful curses fell from the Ed's lips and along with many rude hand gestures.

“Uhhh....Ed...I think we're being watched.” Ed stopped his ranting, his gaze following where Al was pointing at. 

A couple yards away, an array of green bushes could be seen rustling slightly. A bunch of loud whispering could also be heard. Black Hayate trotted up to the bushes, sniffing. A hand pushed it's way out, trying to shoo the dog away.

“Scram Hayate! Shoo! Go on!” the voice whispered urgently. Instead of backing off, Black Hayate began barking loudly.

“Come on Hayate! Cut it out!” another slightly higher pitched voice said. 

Alphonse and Edward crept over to the bushes quietly, both getting on opposite sides of the bushes. Nodding their heads, both boys clapped their hands together and hit the ground. The bushes were consumed by a blue-white light and in an instant exploded, thousands of leaves floating down above the guilty faces of Breda, Falman, and Fuery.

“What are you guys doing?” Edward asked, glaring down at the three officers.

Fuery was the first to jump up, saluting to the Edward and Alphonse promptly. “Our apologies Chief! We were just....uh....just....” He glanced to the other two men, eyes begging for a help.

Breda reached into his jacket, pulling out a packet of crackers. Stuffing several in his mouth, he stood up and began explaining. “I hm fhm ehigm jete berteh ffell ahnkeelj eingffj.”

Both Edward and Alphonse sweat dropped, irritated looks on their faces. Edwards turned to Falman, the last man still on the ground. “Well what's your excuse?”

Falman looked from this team mates to the Elric Brothers, his resolved breaking. Without warning, Falmon threw his arms around Edward, sobbing.

“Wahhhh I'm so sorry Edward! No one this young should ever have to go through such heart ache! Especially from a monster like him!!!!” Falmon sobbed, holding Edward tightly. Edward's muffled screams could be heard, trying to break away from the older man's hug.

With one final shove, Edward managed to release himself from Falman's embrace. Stumbling back, he flinched away in surprise as Fuery sprung up in front of him, tears rolling down his face too. “We just want you to know we are all on your side Chief!”

Edward backed away, holding his hands up nervously. “What the hell are you guys talking about?”

Breda, still munching on his crackers, glanced at Edward with an attempted sympathetic look. “Dont' worry Fullmetal there are other fish in the sea.”

Edward blinked at him. “wha?”

Falman pushed Breda out of the way, getting in front of Fullmetal. “Not that you should give up or anything! No that's not what we're saying at all!”

Fuery elbowed Falman, knocking him down. “Yeah! Just because the Colonel has a slight age advantage and a lot more experience doesn't mean you can't win her back!”

Breda looked down at his watch. “Yo guys I hate to break up this pep talk, but we have to scrabble before the boss sees we're missing.”

Fuery grabbed the hem of Edward's shirt, his eye's pleading. “Please Fullmetal you can't give up! You're an inspiration to all us underdogs everywhere!”

Falman shook Ed by his shirt, yelling. “You can't let him intimidate you Chief! He's nothing but a monster! A MONSTER I SAY! WAHHHH!!”

“Yeah I've heard enough.” Breda grumbled, grabbing both Fuery and Falman's shirt collars and dragging them back to the cabin. 

Fuery yelled a last “We believe in you Chief! ” to Edward, while Falman kept on weeping.

Alphonse and Edward stared at the retreating men with looks of utter confusion. Alphonse turned to his brother, tilting his head confusedly. “Ed, what were they talking about?”

Edward shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. “Who the hell knows? I always thought Roy's team were a bunch of weirdos.”

“I wonder why they were spying on us?” Al thought out loud.

“Who cares?! As long as Roy doesn't use them to break our deal I'm—Ahhh!” Edward yelped as Ling jumped down from the tree tops, barely missing him. Ling smiled cheerfully, waving a hand to Alphonse.

“I agree full heartedly with you Alphonse. The nerve of some some people spying on others personal lives like that. Really is rather rude don't you think?” Ling commented thoughtfully. 

“YOUR ONE TO TALK YOU PERVERTED STALKER!!!” Ling cocked his head, watching as Ed struggled against Al's hold as the giant suit of armor held back his brother from clobbering the prince.

“Brother calm down!” Alphonse scolded, easily holding on to the small boy.

“LET ME GO AL! WHY IS HE EVEN HERE ANYWAY!! WE DON'T NEED HIM!” Ed loudly complained, still struggling like a two-year old.

Alphonse sighed, having already gone through this with him. “Ed, Ling and Lan Fan helped us fight off Lust the first time. Their ability to sense Homunculus have been extremely helpful.”

“Not only that but all this homunculus hunting is extremely helpful in my research for immortality!” Ling added happily. Edward glared at him.

“No one gives a crap about your search for immortality!” Edward remarked angrily. This comment didn't faze Ling in the slightest. In fact he walked up to Edward with a caring look on his face and patted him on the head, like a father would do to his son.

“Oh Edward my boy, I know you only lash out like this because of your undeniably heart ache of losing your beloved Winry. Well don't worry my friend, I. future Emperor of Xing, shall help you in your quest to rescue the pretty maiden. And after that, I shall train you in ways of courtship so that nothing else shall befall your relationship ever again. After all, from what I saw in the hotel room I say my advice came in pretty handy-----”

BAM!

A quick punch to the face had brought Ling to the ground, a huge lump growing on his head. Edward stood over him with a look of pure fury while Al just stood shaking his head at their crazy antics. Alphonse knelt down next to the prince, his voice exasperated. “Ling is there any other reason you showed up....besides to annoy Ed?” 

Ling lifted his head off the ground, a goofy smile on his face. “Ahh yes! I came to inform you that me and Lan Fan have spotted Winry in the forest. She's on her way and should be here soon. Lan Fan is keeping a close watch on her as we speak.”

“Winry?!” Both Ed and Al gasped. Ed turned to his brother, his eyes dead serious and voice commanding.

“Al! Go warn the others and tell them it's time!” Alphonse nodded his head and started running towards the cabin. Ed turned to Ling. “Ling keep guard out here. As soon as you see her, you and Lan Fan join the others, got it?!”

Ling nodded, grinning. “Right.” Before jumping back into the trees, he turned to Ed, his face unnaturally sober. “Oh and Ed....good luck.”

Ed gave a curt nod. “Thanks.” Smiling, Ling disappeared into the tree tops, leaving Ed alone. He let his gaze drift towards the dark tree lines, the shadows looking unnaturally sinister. Somewhere out there was Winry, caught in the clutches of a monster. A breeze picked up, blowing his bangs into his face. He narrowed his eyes, knowing that along with Winry Lust was also coming. A boiling hatred swelled in his chest and he clenched his metal arm angrily. “I'm ready for you, Lust.” Ed growled.

The small paw of Black Hayate scratched at Edward leg. Ed looked down to see he too was staring at the forest, whining slightly. Frowning, he patted his leg, starting toward the cabin. “Come on boy, let's go.” Hayate padded behind him, tail between his legs. 

With the evil drawing nearer, it was time to put the plan into action...


End file.
